Straiten

King James Dictionary

Straiten,

1. To make narrow.

In narrow circuit, straitend by a foe.

2. To contract to confine as, to straiten the British commerce. 3. To make tense or tight as, to straiten a cord. 4. To distress to perplex to press with poverty or other necessity as, a man straitened in his circumstances. 5. To press by want of sufficient room.

Waters when straitened, as at the falls of bridges, give a roaring noise.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. t.) To make strait; to make narrow; hence, to contract; to confine.

(2): ( v. t.) To make tense, or tight; to tighten.

(3): ( v. t.) To restrict; to distress or embarrass in respect of means or conditions of life; - used chiefly in the past participle; - as, a man straitened in his circumstances.