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verb

Straiten v. t. (past & past part. straitened; pres. part. straitening)

To make strait; to make narrow; hence, to contract; to confine. "Waters, when straitened, as at the falls of bridges, give a roaring noise." "In narrow circuit, straitened by a foe."

To make tense, or tight; to tighten. "They straiten at each end the cord."

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.

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Etymology of 'Straiten'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Straiten" Quotes from Famous Books

... political tenets as certain and uncontroverted. Taught to consider even the ancient laws and constitution more as lines to direct his conduct, than barriers to withstand his power; a conspiracy to erect new ramparts, in order to straiten his authority, appeared but one degree removed from open sedition and rebellion. So atrocious in his eyes was such a design, that he seems even unwilling to impute it to the commons; and though he was constrained to adjourn the parliament by reason of the plague, ...

— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part E. - From Charles I. to Cromwell • David Hume

... thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the LORD thy God hath given thee; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall straiten thee. The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he hath remaining: so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall ...

— Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature • Various

... all occasions, and particularly how sincere a friend he was now to me, I could hardly refrain weeping at what he said to me: therefore, first I asked him if his circumstances admitted him to spare so much money at that time, and if it would not straiten him? He told me he could not say but it might straiten him a little; but, however, it was my money, and I might ...

— The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808) • Daniel Defoe

... both with relation to each other and to the several parts within themselves. But if the confiscation should so far succeed as to sink the paper currency, the cement is gone with the circulation. In the mean time its binding force will be very uncertain, and it will straiten or relax with every variation in ...

— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. III. (of 12) • Edmund Burke

... is very little known, therefore it is not spoken of. O state of life! how narrow is the way which leadeth unto thee! O love the most pure of all, because Thou art God Himself! O love immense and independent, which nothing can limit or straiten! ...

— Spiritual Torrents • Jeanne Marie Bouvires de la Mot Guyon