Part 842

3. A neck of land; an isthmus. [R.]

A dark strait of barren land.

Tennyson.

4. Fig.: A condition of narrowness or restriction; doubt; distress; difficulty; poverty; perplexity; -- sometimes in the plural; as, reduced to great straits.

For I am in a strait betwixt two.

Phil. i. 23.

Let no man, who owns a Providence, grow desperate under any calamity or strait whatsoever.

South.

Ulysses made use of the pretense of natural infirmity to conceal the straits he was in at that time in his thoughts.

Broome.

Strait, v. t. To put to difficulties. [Obs.] Shak.

Strait"en (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Straitened (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Straitening.] 1. To make strait; to make narrow; hence, to contract; to confine.

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

Bacon.

In narrow circuit, straitened by a foe.

Milton.

2. To make tense, or tight; to tighten.

They straiten at each end the cord.

Pope.

3. 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.

Strait"-hand`ed (?), a. Parsimonious; sparing; niggardly. [R.] -- Strait"- hand`ed*ness, n. [R.]

Strait"-jack`et (?), n. A dress of strong materials for restraining maniacs or those who are violently delirious. It has long sleeves, which are closed at the ends, confining the hands, and may be tied behind the back.

Strait"-laced` (?), a. 1. Bound with stays.

Let nature have scope to fashion the body as she thinks best; we have few well-shaped that are strait- laced.

Locke.

2. Restricted; stiff; constrained. [R.] Fuller.

3. Rigid in opinion; strict in manners or morals.

Strait"ly, adv. 1. In a strait manner; narrowly; strictly; rigorously. Mark i. 43.