strait 
Much strait watching of master hailitts is about us, that 
there be no privy conference amongst us. 
Bp. Ridley, in Bradford's Letters (Parker Sou., isr.8). II. 4. 
(c) Ckwe-nsted ; stingy ; avaricious. 
I do not ask you mileli ; 
I beg cold comfort ; and you are so strait 
And so ingrateful, you deny me that. 
Shak., K. John, v. 7. 42. 
6. Strict; rigorous; exacting. 
It was old and som del streit. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 174. 
After the most strutted sect of our religion I lived a 
Pharisee. Acts xxvi. 5. 
Whom I believe to be most strait in virtue. 
Shak., M.forM., ii. 1.9. 
Led a streight life in continencie and austerity, and was 
therefore admired as a Prophet, and resorted to out of all 
parts. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 37!*. 
Bound them by BO strait vows. 
Tennyson, Coming of Arthur. 
7f. Sore ; great ; difficult ; distressing. 
At a gtrayte neede they can wele stanche bloode. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Funiivall), p. 17. 
8f. Hard-pressed; straitened; hampered. 
Mother, I kindly thank you for your Orange pills you 
sent me. If you are not too straight of money, send me 
some such thing by the woman, and a pound or two of 
Almonds and Raisons. 
Strype, In Ellis's Lit. Letters, p. 178. 
To make your strait circumstances yet straiter. 
Seeker, Sermons, II. ri. 
II. w. 1. A narrow pass or passage. 
Thei rode forth the softe pas straite and clos till they 
come to the straite be-twene the wode and the river, as 
the kynge loot hadde hem taught. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 160. 
The barbarous people lay in waite for him in his way, 
in the straight of Thermopyles. 
North, tr. of Plutarch, p. 394. 
Honour travels in a strait so narrow, 
Where one but goes abreast. 
Shale., T. and C., iii. 3. 154. 
2. Specifically, a narrow passage of water con- 
necting two bodies of water: often used in the 
plural: as, the Strait or Straits of Gibraltar; 
the Straits of Magellan ; the Straits of Dover. 
Abbreviated St. 3. A strip of land between 
two bodies of water; an isthmus. 
A broken chancel with a broken cross, 
That stood on a dark strait of barren land : 
On one side lay the Ocean, and on one 
Lay a great water. Tennyson, Passing of Arthur. 
4+. A narrow alley in London. 
Look into any angle of the town, the Streights, or the 
Bermudas, where the quarrelling lesson is read, and how 
do they entertain the time, but with bottle-ale and to- 
bacco? B. Jottson, Bartholomew Fair, ii. 6. 
Cant names then given to the places frequented by 
bullies, knights of the post, and fencing masters. . . . 
These Streights consisted of a nest of obscure courts, alleys, 
and avenues, running between the bottom of St. Martin's 
Lane, Half-Moon, and Chandos Street. 
Gi/ord's Note at "Bermudas" in the above passage. 
5. A tight or narrow place; difficulty; distress; 
need ; case of necessity : often in the plural. 
rinding himself out of straits, he will revert to his cus- 
toms. Bacon, Expense (ed. 1887). 
The straits and needs of Catiline being such 
As he must fight with one of the two armies. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, v. 6. 
Take me ; I'll serve you better in a strait. 
Tennyson, Princess, i. 
6f. pi. Cloth of single width, as opposed to 
broad cloth: a term in use in the sixteenth 
century and later.-Between the Straits, through 
and beyond the Straits of Gibraltar : used by American 
sailors with reference to a voyage to Mediterranean ports : 
as, he has made two voyages between the Straits. Peri- 
nea! strait. See perineal. Straits Of the pelvis, in 
obstet., the openings of the pelvic canal, distinguished as 
the superior and inferior straits. See pelvis. Straits oil 
See oft. 
StraitH (strat), v. t. [Also straight; < strait 1 , 
a.] 1. To make strait or narrow; narrow; 
straiten ; contract. 
He [Crassus] set his ranks wide, casting his souldiers 
into a square battell. . . . Yet afterward he changed his 
mind againe, and straighted the battell [formation] of his 
footmen, fashioning it like a brick, more long than broad, 
making a front and shewing their faces every way. 
North, tr. of Plutarch, p. 477. 
2. To stretch; draw tight; tighten. 
This weighty Scott sail strait a rope, 
And hanged he shall be. 
Lang Johnny Jtoir (Child's Ballads, IV. 273). 
3. To press hard; put to difficulties ; distress; 
puzzle; perplex. 
If your lass 
Interpretation should abuse, and call this 
Your lack of love or bounty, you were strutted 
For a reply. Shak., W. T., iv. 4. 366. 
Strait 1 ! (strat), adv. [< ME. streite, streyte; < 
strait 1 , a.] Narrowly ; tightly ; closely ; strict- 
ly; rigorously; strenuously; hard. 
5978 
Hi]- hosen weren of fyn scarlet reed 
Kul xti-t'ili'. yteyd. 
Chaucer, <len. 1'rol. to C. T., 1. 4. r >7. 
Worceter sayd at Castre it scliuld be nessessary for jo\v 
to have good witnesse, as he saythe it scluild go streythe 
with gow wytheowt gowr witnesse were rythe sofycyent. 
Paston letters, I. 518. 
strait'-'t, ". and dilr. Anoldspellingof .vf/vt/r/AM. 
Straiten (stra'tn), r. t. [Formerly itlso.v//v'i'<//i/- 
eii ; < tttrait 1 + -fill.] 1 . To make strait or nar- 
row; narrow; contract; diminish. 
Let not young beginners in religion . . . straiten their 
liberty by vows of long continuance. 
Jer. Taylor, Holy Living, iv. 7. 
2. To confine; hem in. 
Feed high henceforth, man. and no more be utraitfn'il 
Within the limits of an empty patience. 
ford, Fancies, iv. 1. 
3. To draw tight ; tighten. 
My horses here detain, 
Fix'd to the chariot by the strailen'd rein. 
Pope, Iliad, v. 325. 
4. To hamper; inconvenience; restrict. 
An other time having straightiied [var. straighted] his 
enemies with scarcity of victuals. 
North, tr. of Plutarch, p. 49S. 
Newtown men. being straitened for ground, sent some 
to Merimack to find a fit place to transplant themselves. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 159. 
The shackles of an old love straiten'd him. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
5. To press hard, as with want or difficulties of 
any kind; distress; afflict with pecuniary diffi- 
culties: as, to be straitened in money matters. 
So straitened was he at times by these warlike expenses 
that when his daughter married Boabdil, her bridal dress 
and jewels had to be borrowed. Irving, Granada, p. 68. 
straitforwardt, iidr. An old spelling of stniii/lit- 
forieard. 
strait-handedt (strat'han'ded), a. Parsimoni- 
ous; niggardly; close-fisted. 
In the distribution of our time God seems to be strait- 
handed, and gives it to us, not as nature gives us rivers, 
enough to drown us, but drop by drop. 
Jer. Taylor, Holy Dying, ii. 1. 
strait-handednesst (strat' ban 'ded-nes), w. 
Niggardliness ; parsimony. 
The Romish doctrine makes their strait-handednes* so 
much more injurious as the cause of separation is more 
just. Bp. Hall, Cages of Conscience, iv. 3. 
strait-hearted (strat'har'ted), a. Narrow; sel- 
fish; stingy. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, ii. 17. 
strait-jacket (strat'jak'et), . Same as strait- 
iraistfoat. 
strait-laced (strat ' last), a. 1. Made close 
and tight by lacing, as stays or a bodice. 2. 
Wearing tightly laced stays, bodice, etc. 
We have few well-shaped that are strait-laced. 
Locke, Education, { 11. 
Hence 3. Strict in manners or morals; rigid 
in opinion. 
And doubt 'st thou me 1 suspect you I will tell 
The hidden mysteries of your Paphlan cell 
To the strait-lac'd Diana? 
Randolph, Complaint against Cupid. 
Why are you so strait-lac'd, sir knight, to cast a lady 
off so coy? Peele, Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes. 
One so strait-laced 
In her temper, her taste, and her morals and waist. 
Ba.rha.rn, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 118. 
straitly (strat'li), adv. [Formerly also straigiit- 
ly; < ME. straitly, streytly, straitliche, streitliche; 
< strait 1 + -fy 2 .] In a strait manner, (a) Nar- 
rowly ; closely. 
If men look straitly to It, they will find that, unless 
their lives are domestic, those of the women will not be. 
Margaret Fuller, Woman in 19th Cent., p. 36. 
(6) Tightly ; tight. 
Other bynde it straitly with sum bonnde. 
Palladium, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 74. 
" Spare me not," he said to Christie; for even that ruffian 
hesitated to draw the cord straitly. Scott, Monastery, xxxi. 
(c) Strictly ; rigorously. 
Streytly for-bede 30 that no wyfe [woman] be at joure 
mete. Babeei Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 329. 
His majesty hath straitly given in charge 
That no man shall have private conference, 
Of what degree soever, with his brother. 
Shak., Rich. III., L I. 86. 
(d) Closely; intimately, (e) Hardly; grievously; sorely. 
I hear how that you are something straitly handled for 
reading books, speaking with good men, yea, praying to 
God, as you would do. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 203. 
straitness (strat'nes), . [Formerly also 
straightness ; < ME. streitnes, streytnesse ; < 
strait 1 + -ness."] The state or quality of being 
strait, (a) Narrowness ; smallness ; confined or restrict- 
ed character. 
For the streitnei of thin astrelabie, than Is every smal 
devysioun in a signe departed by two degrees & two. 
Chaucer, Astrolabe, i. 17. 
stramash 
By reason nl the xlraitnex* of all the places. 
I Mac. xii. 21. 
(d) Strictness; rigor. 
If his own life answer the straitrtess of his proceeding, 
it shall become him well. Shak., M. for M., ill. 2. 269. 
(c) Distress; difficulty; pressure from narrowness of cir- 
cumstances or necessity of any kind, particularly from 
poverty ; want ; scarcity. 
But be seyd ther shal no thyng hurt hym but youre 
ttreytnesse of mony to hym. Paston Letters, II. 38. 
I received your loving letter, but straightness of time 
forbids me. Winthrop, In New England's Memorial, p. 191. 
He was never employed in public affairs, . . tliestrait- 
neits of his circumstances keeping him close to his trade. 
Everett, Orations, II. 13. 
strait-waistcoat (strat'wast"kOt), . A. gar- 
ment for the body made of canvas or similar 
.st rung textile material, and so shaped as to lace 
up behind and fit closely. It has sleeves much 
longer than the arms, and usually sewed up at the ends, 
so that the hands cannot be used to do injury. The sleeves 
can also be tied together so as to restrain the wearer. It 
is used for the control or discipline of dangerous maniacs 
and other violent persons. Also called strait-jacket. 
strake 1 (strak), r. '. ; pret. and pp. stroked, ppr. 
. [< ME. straken ; a collateral form of 
.-i n. striki-it. a secondary form of striken, < 
AS. strican (pret. strat), go, pass swiftly over: 
sefstmik 1 , xtrike, and stroke 1 . Hence ult. stray- 
<tle.~\ To move ; go ; proceed. [Old and prov. 
Bag.] 
And with that worde right anoon 
They gan to strake forth. 
Chaucer, Death of Blanche, 1. 1811. 
strake' 2 (strak), n. [So. also straik; < ME. 
strake; in part a var. of streke, mod. E. streak 2 , 
and in part of strok, mod. E. stroke : see stroke 1 , 
xtrrak*, stroke 1 ."] If. A streak ; a stripe. 
Summe lowe places therof by the water syde looke like 
redd* cltlfes with white strokes like wayes a cable length 
a piece. 
R. Eden, First Books on America (ed. Arber, p. 381). 
2f. A strip; a narrow tract. 
This Morrea is a plentyous countrey, and almoste inuy- 
rounde with the see, excepteonertrafe of a .vj. mylebrode, 
whiche yeueth entre into Grecia, that ye Turke bathe. 
Sir R. Guylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 12. 
3t. A reef in a sail. 
Ffor ne ban the! striked a stroke and sterid hem the better, 
And abated a nonet or the blast come, 
They had be throwe ouere the borde backewarde ichonne. 
Richard the fadeless, iv. 80. 
4 . A rut in a road. [Prov. Eng.] 5. A crack 
in afloor. [Prov. Eng.] 6. A breadth of plank 
or planking; specifically, a continuous line of 
planking or plates on a vessel's side, reaching 
from stem to stern. Also streak and shutter-in. 
See cut under clincher-built. 7. The iron band 
used to bind the fellies of a wheel ; the hoop or 
tire of a wheel. 8. A piece of board or metal 
used for scraping off the skimpings in hand- 
jigging or tozing. 9. Same as lye 3 . 10. A 
bushel: more commonly strike (which see). 
[Obsolete or colloq. J 
Come, Ruose, Ruose ! I sold fifty strake o' barley to-day 
In half this time. Farqtihar, Recruiting Officer, Iii. 1. 
11. In hunting, a particular signal with a horn. 
A> bookes report, of sir Tristram came all the good 
termes of venery and of hunting, and the sises and mea- 
sures of blowing of an home. And of him wee had . . . 
all the blasts that long to all manner of games. First to 
the uncoupeling, to the seeking, to the rechace, to the 
flight, to the death, and to strak, and many other blasts 
and termes. Sir T. Mallory, Morte d'Arthur, II. cxxxvii. 
Binding-stroke. See binding. 
strakefy (strak). An obsolete preterit of strike. 
strake 4 (strak), r. t. A dialectal (Scotch) form 
of stroke^. 
stralet (stral), n. See streal. 
Stram (stram), r.; pret. and pp. strammed, ppr. 
strumming. [Cf. Dan. gtramme = Sw. strani- 
ma, be too tight, tighten, stretch, straiten, < 
Dan. stram = Sw. stram = G. stramm, tight, 
stiff, stretched; cf. D. straf, G. straff, severe, 
strict, stern.] I. intrans. 1. To spring or recoil 
with violence. Hallmell. [Prov. Eng.] 2. 
To spread out the limbs ; walk with long un- 
graceful strides. [Colloq.] 
II. tram. To dash down violently; beat. 
Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
stram (stram), n. A hard, long walk. [Colloq.] 
I hed sech a stram this inornin'. 
B. B. Stoiee, Oldtown, p. 568. 
stramaget, n. [ME., < OF. "stramage (ML. 
stramagium), scattered straw, < L. stramen, 
straw, litter, < sternere, pp. stratus, scatter, 
strew: see stratum. Cf. stramineous, stram- 
mel.] Straw ; litter. Prompt. Pan., pp. 478, 
480. 
stramash (stra-mash'), v. t. [Developed from 
stramazoun, pronounced later something like 
"strain ash in. and so taken {oT*stramashing, the 
