strait

[streyt]

noun

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

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

   Ill and penniless, he was in sad straits indeed.

   Synonyms: plight, predicament, dilemma, pinch, exigency
   Antonyms: ease

3. Archaic.,  a narrow passage or area.

4. an isthmus.

adjective

Archaic.

1. narrow.

   Strait is the gate.

2. affording little space; confined in area.

3. strict, as in requirements or principles.

strait

/ streɪt /

noun

1. (often plural)

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

   2. ( 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. archaic,  a narrow place or passage

adjective

1. (of spaces, etc) affording little room

2. (of circumstances, etc) limiting or difficult

3. severe, strict, or scrupulous

strait

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

Other Word Forms

• straitly adverb
• straitness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of strait¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English streit “narrow, a strait,” from Old French estreit “narrow, tight,” from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere “to tighten, bind”; strain ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of strait¹

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

Synonym Study

See emergency.

Example Sentences

Put it all together, and the U.S. economy is in dire straits, possibly heading toward a shoal.

From Los Angeles Times

After all, her next book is a roman à clef about Gala, and writing about a woman who might be in dire straits would be exploitative.

From Los Angeles Times

By the time President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated in March 1933, the nation was in dire straits.

From Salon

Their stories are the epitome of what Sweden and Denmark's governments envisioned when they signed an agreement in 1991 to build a permanent link across the Oresund strait.

From BBC

South Korea reportedly gets 60% of its crude oil through the strait, and Japan nearly three-quarters.

From BBC

Related Words

• predicament