strait

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Related to strait: Strait of Magellan, Bering Strait

strait

(often straits) a narrow passage of water connecting two large bodies of water; difficulty; distress: dire straits

Not to be confused with:

straight – having no waves or bends: a straight path to the beach; candid and direct: straight talk; unmixed: I drink my whiskey straight.

strait

(strāt)

n. often straits

1. A narrow channel joining two larger bodies of water: straits that were treacherous; the Strait of Gibraltar; the Bosporus Straits.

2. A position of difficulty, perplexity, distress, or need: in desperate straits.

adj. Archaic

a. Difficult; stressful.

b. Having or marked by limited funds or resources.

a. Narrow or confined.

b. Fitting tightly; constricted.

3. Strict, rigid, or righteous.

[Middle English streit, narrow, a strait, from Old French estreit, tight, narrow, from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere, to draw tight; see streig- in Indo-European roots.]

strait′ly adv.

strait′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

strait

(streɪt)

1. (Physical Geography) (often plural)

a. a narrow channel of the sea linking two larger areas of sea

b. (capital as part of a name): the Strait of Gibraltar.

2. (often plural) a position of acute difficulty (often in the phrase in dire or desperate straits)

3. (Physical Geography) archaic a narrow place or passage

adj

4. (of spaces, etc) affording little room

5. (of circumstances, etc) limiting or difficult

6. severe, strict, or scrupulous

[C13: from Old French estreit narrow, from Latin strictus constricted, from stringere to bind tightly]

ˈstraitly adv

ˈstraitness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

strait

(streɪt)

n.

1. Often, straits. (used with a sing. v.) a narrow passage of water connecting two large bodies of water.

2. Often, straits. a position of difficulty, distress, or need.

3. Archaic. a narrow passage or area.

4. isthmus.

adj. Archaic.

5. narrow.

6. confined in area.

7. strict, as in requirements or principles.

[1150–1200; Middle English streit < Old French estreit < Latin strictus, past participle of stringere to bind; compare strain¹]

strait

(strāt)

A narrow waterway joining two larger bodies of water. The Strait of Gibraltar, for example, connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

strait

A narrow strip of sea that links two larger areas of sea.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	strait - a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water sound channel - a deep and relatively narrow body of water (as in a river or a harbor or a strait linking two larger bodies) that allows the best passage for vessels; "the ship went aground in the channel" narrow - a narrow strait connecting two bodies of water
	2.	strait - a bad or difficult situation or state of affairs straits, pass desperate straits, dire straits - a state of extreme distress situation - a complex or critical or unusual difficulty; "the dangerous situation developed suddenly"; "that's quite a situation"; "no human situation is simple"
Adj.	1.	strait - narrow; "strait is the gate" archaicism, archaism - the use of an archaic expression narrow - not wide; "a narrow bridge"; "a narrow line across the page"

strait

noun

1. (often plural) channel, sound, narrows, stretch of water, sea passage Thousands of vessels pass through the straits annually.

plural noun

1. difficulty, crisis, mess, pass, hole (slang), emergency, distress, dilemma, embarrassment, plight, hardship, uphill (S. African), predicament, extremity, perplexity, panic stations (informal), pretty or fine kettle of fish (informal) If we had a child, we'd be in really dire straits.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

صُعوبَه، حاجَه، عُسْر ماليمَضيق

průlivtíseňúžina

strædesundvanskelighed

Meerenge Straße Engpass

πορθμός

détroit

tengerszoros

kröggursund

stretto

tramdomieji marškiniai

finansiālas grūtībasgrūtībasjūras šaurums

пролив

boğaz sıkıntızor durum

困境海峡

strait

[streɪt] N

1. (Geog) (also straits) → estrecho m
the Straits of Dover → el estrecho de Dover

2. straits (fig) → situación f apurada, apuro m
to be in dire straits → estar en un gran apuro
the economic straits we are in → el apuro económico en que nos encontramos

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

strait

[ˈstreɪt]

n (GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY) → détroit m

straits npl
to be in dire straits → être aux abois, être dans une situation désespérée
to be in desperate financial straits → être financièrement aux abois

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

strait

(Geog) → Meerenge f, → Straße f; the straits of Dover/Gibraltar → die Straße von Dover/Gibraltar

straits pl (fig) → Nöte pl, → Schwierigkeiten pl; to be in dire or desperate straits → in großen Nöten sein, in einer ernsten Notlage sein

strait

straitjacket

n (lit, fig) → Zwangsjacke f

strait-laced

adj → prüde, puritanisch, spießig (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

strait

[streɪt] n (Geog) → stretto
the Straits of Dover → lo stretto di Dover
to be in dire straits (fig) → essere nei guai

strait

(streit) noun

1. (often in plural) a narrow strip of sea between two pieces of land. the straits of Gibraltar; the Bering Strait.

2. (in plural) difficulty; (financial) need.

ˈstrait-jacket noun

a type of jacket with long sleeves tied behind to hold back the arms of eg a violent and insane person.

ˌstrait-ˈlaced adjective

strict and severe in attitude and behaviour.

References in classic literature ?

On this occasion, Captain Nemo informed me that his intention was to get into the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Torres.

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Here, though the weather was calm, we found the sea so rough, that we were tossed as in a high wind for two nights; whether this violent agitation of the water proceeded from the narrowness of the strait, or from the fury of the late storm, I know not; whatever was the cause, we suffered all the hardships of a tempest.

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In this strait they sent a Deputation to a neighbouring tribe to consult the Oldest and Wisest Ape in All the World.

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"Well, and when we come back to the top of the hill, which way must we take?"--"Why, you must keep the strait road."--"But I remember there are two roads, one to the right and the other to the left."--"Why, you must keep the right-hand road, and then gu strait vorwards; only remember to turn vurst to your right, and then to your left again, and then to your right, and that brings you to the squire's; and then you must keep strait vorwards, and turn to the left."

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If I had space I could prove tha South America was formerly here cut off by a strait, joinin the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, like that of Magellan But it may yet be asked, how has the solid basalt bee moved?

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The following night they passed through the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, which means in Arabic The Bridge of Tears, and the next day they put in at Steamer Point, north-west of Aden harbour, to take in coal.

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Out on the blue sea, the distant splash of the paddles, the distant thump of the engines, told from time to time of the passage of steamers, entering or leaving the strait between the island and the mainland.

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The precise point of destination was still undecided--the plan being to search out a suitable location upon one of the many little islets which dot the western shore of the Macassar Strait.

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I guess it was the disappointment written on my face that made him desist; for I, also, had a pride in my boat- sailing abilities, and I was almost wild to get out alone with the big sail and go tearing down the Carquinez Straits in the wake of the flying Greek.

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This rampart is pierced by several sally-ports for the convenience of ships and whales; conspicuous among which are the straits of Sunda and Malacca.

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I now made the old town of Benicia, on the Carquinez Straits, my headquarters.

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There is no part of the world of coasts, continents, oceans, seas, straits, capes, and islands which is not under the sway of a reigning wind, the sovereign of its typical weather.