- narrow
- narrow ⇒ Length measurementA narrows npl goulet m.B adj1 (in breadth) [street, valley, gap, vase, room, bridge, face] étroit ; to grow ou become narrow [road, river] se rétrécir ; [valley] se resserrer ; to have narrow eyes avoir des petits yeux ; he is narrow across the shoulders, his shoulders are narrow il est étroit d'épaules ;2 (in scope) [range, choice] restreint ; [issue, field, boundaries, group, sense, definition] étroit ; [vision, life, interests, understanding] limité ; [views, version] étriqué pej ;3 (in degree) [majority, margin] faible (before n) ; to have a narrow lead avoir une légère avance ; to suffer a narrow defeat perdre de justesse ; to win a narrow victory gagner de justesse ; to win by the narrowest of margins gagner d'une extrême justesse ; to have a narrow escape ou a narrow squeak ○ GB l'échapper belle ; that was a narrow squeak ○ ! GB on l'a échappé belle! ;4 (in size, shape) [shoes, jacket, dress, skirt, trousers] étroit ;5 Ling [vowel] tendu ; [transcription] phonétique.C vtr1 (limit) limiter [choice, range, field, options] (to à) ; restreindre [sense, definition] (to à) ;2 (reduce) réduire [gap, deficit, margin] (from de ; to à) ; Elliott has narrowed the gap (in race, poll) Elliott a réduit l'écart ;3 (reduce breadth of) rétrécir [road, path, arteries] ; to narrow one's eyes plisser les yeux.D vi1 (in breadth) [street, lake, corridor] se rétrécir ; [valley, arteries] se resserrer ; the road narrowed to a track la route se rétrécissait au point de devenir un chemin ; her eyes narrowed elle plissait les yeux ;2 (fall off) [gap, deficit, margin, lead] se réduire (to à) ;3 (in scope) [choice] se limiter (to à).E narrowing pres p adj [street, channel, passage] qui se rétrécit ; [gap, deficit, field] qui se réduit.Idiomsthe straight and narrow le droit chemin ; to keep to/wander from the straight and narrow rester dans le/s'écarter du droit chemin.Phrasal verb■ narrow down : [investigation, search] se limiter (to à) ; [field of contestants, suspects] se réduire (to à) ;▶ narrow [sth] down, narrow down [sth] réduire [numbers, list, choice] (to à) ; limiter [investigation, research] (to à).
Big English-French dictionary. 2003.