Strait

1. (n.) A narrow passageway connecting two larger bodies of water.

2. (superl.) Narrow; not broad.

3. (superl.) Tight; close; closely fitting.

4. (superl.) Close; intimate; near; familiar.

5. (superl.) Strict; scrupulous; rigorous.

6. (superl.) Difficult; distressful; straited.

7. (superl.) Parsimonious; niggardly; mean.

8. (adv.) Strictly; rigorously.

9. (n.) A narrow pass or passage.

10. (n.) A (comparatively) narrow passageway connecting two large bodies of water; -- often in the plural; as, the strait, or straits, of Gibraltar; the straits of Magellan; the strait, or straits, of Mackinaw.

11. (n.) A neck of land; an isthmus.

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

13. (v. t.) To put to difficulties.

Thesaurus Entries

angustifoliate, angustirostrate, angustisellate, angustiseptal, arm, armlet, bay, bayou, belt, bight, bind, boca, bottleneck, bound, bounded, box, breakers ahead, canal, cardhouse, cause for alarm, channel, circumscribed, climacteric, close, close-fitting, clutch, complication, conditioned, confined, confining, constricted, contingency, convergence of events, copyrighted, cove, cramp, cramped, creek, crisis, critical juncture, critical point, crossroads, crowded, crucial period, crunch, danger, dangerous ground, defile, demanding, difficult, dilemma, disciplined, embarrassing position, embarrassment, emergency, endangerment, estuary, euripus, exacting, exigency, extremity, fine how-do-you-do, finite, fjord, frith, gaping chasm, gathering clouds, gulf, gut, harbor, hazard, hell to pay, hinge, hobble, hot water, house of cards, how-do-you-do, imbroglio, imperilment, incapacious, incommodious, inlet, isthmian, isthmic, isthmus, jam, jeopardy, kyle, limited, limiting, loch, meager, menace, mess, mix, moderated, morass, mouth, narrow, narrow seas, narrows, natural harbor, near, neck, parlous straits, pass, patented, peril, perplexity, pickle, pinch, plight, predicament, prescribed, pretty pass, pretty pickle, pretty predicament, proscribed, push, quagmire, qualified, quicksand, reach, restricted, restricting, rigorous, risk, road, roads, roadstead, rocks ahead, rub, scant, scanty, scrape, slender, slough, sound, spot, squeeze, stew, sticky wicket, storm clouds, straitened, straits, swamp, thin ice, threat, throat, tight, tight spot, tight squeeze, tightrope, tricky spot, trouble, turn, turning, turning point, unholy mess