narrow

Related to narrow: narrow down

admiral of the narrow seas

obsolete One who drunkenly vomits into someone else's lap. Stay away from Ted. He cannot hold his liquor and is known to become admiral of the narrow seas after a few drinks.
See also: admiral, narrow, of, sea

be on the straight and narrow

To maintain a morally upright way of life; to only make choices that are considered morally and legally correct. Now that I have a conviction on my record, I really have to be on the straight and narrow going forward. My father was on the straight and narrow until the day he died, and I think he regretted never doing anything wild or unexpected when he had the chance.
See also: and, narrow, on, straight

keep on the straight and narrow

To maintain a morally upright way of life; to only make choices that are considered morally and legally correct. Now that I have a conviction on my record, I really have to keep on the straight and narrow going forward. My father kept on the straight and narrow until the day he died, and I think he regretted never doing anything wild or unexpected when he had the chance.
See also: and, keep, narrow, on, straight

keep to the straight and narrow

To maintain a morally upright way of life; to only make choices that are considered morally or legally correct. Now that I have a conviction on my record, I really have to keep to the straight and narrow going forward. My father was a very religious man, and he kept to the straight and narrow until the day he died.
See also: and, keep, narrow, straight

narrow at the equator

Very hungry. The phrase alludes to the idea of having a slimmer midsection due to not eating. I'm so narrow at the equator—can we please get some food now?
See also: narrow

narrow down

To pare the number of people or things on a list down to a more manageable or select number. A noun or pronoun can be used between "narrow" and "down." We've narrowed down our list of candidates to just three, but it's going to be nigh impossible to choose from them. Let's narrow it down to just our very top choices, otherwise we'll never pick a place to go.
See also: down, narrow

narrow escape

A situation in which danger or problems are barely avoided. That guy barely made it over the tracks before the train came. What a narrow escape!
See also: escape, narrow

narrow squeak

1. A victory or success that very nearly ended in failure. After his narrow squeak at the polls, the prime minister must find a way to instill confidence in the country at large once again. After a narrow squeak, they have managed to hold onto their league championship.
2. A situation in which danger or problems are barely avoided. We had just cleaned and tidied the fridge before the health inspector arrived. What a narrow squeak! The expedition had a very narrow squeak when an avalanche tore through the path from which they had just come.
See also: narrow, squeak

on the straight and narrow

Maintaining a morally upright way of life; only making choices that are considered morally and legally correct. Now that I have a conviction on my record, I really have to keep on the straight and narrow going forward. My father stayed on the straight and narrow until the day he died, and I think he regretted never doing anything wild or unexpected when he had the chance.
See also: and, narrow, on, straight

stay on the straight and narrow

To maintain a morally upright way of life; to only make choices that are considered morally and legally correct. Now that I have a conviction on my record, I really have to stay on the straight and narrow going forward. My father stayed on the straight and narrow until the day he died, and I think he regretted never doing anything wild or unexpected when he had the chance.
See also: and, narrow, on, stay, straight

stay to the straight and narrow

To maintain a morally upright way of life; to only make choices that are considered morally or legally correct. Now that I have a conviction on my record, I really have to stay to the straight and narrow going forward. My father was a very religious man, and he stayed to the straight and narrow until the day he died.
See also: and, narrow, stay, straight

the straight and narrow

A morally upright way of life. I need to stay on the straight and narrow so I don't get arrested again.
See also: and, narrow, straight
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

keep to the straight and narrow

Fig. to behave properly and correctly; to stay out of trouble. If you keep to the straight and narrow, you can't help but win in the end. I always keep to the straight and narrow.
See also: and, keep, narrow, straight

narrow something down (to people or things)

to reduce a list of possibilities from many to a selected few. We can narrow the choice down to green or red. We narrowed down the choice to you or Paul.
See also: down, narrow

narrow squeak

Fig. a success almost not achieved; a lucky or marginal success; a problem almost not surmounted. That was a narrow squeak. I don't know how I survived. Another narrow squeak like that and I'll give up.
See also: narrow, squeak

the straight and narrow

Fig. a straight and law-abiding route through life. (Referring to a morally rigid and correct course of behavior. Fixed order.) You should have no trouble with the police if you stick to the straight and narrow. Roger was the kind who followed the straight and narrow every day of his life.
See also: and, narrow, straight
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

narrow escape

A barely successful flight from or avoidance of danger or trouble, as in He had a narrow escape, since the bullet came within inches of his head. This expression uses narrow in the sense of "barely sufficient." [Late 1500s] For a newer synonym, see close call.
See also: escape, narrow

straight and narrow, the

The honest and upright way of living, as in He led a wild life when he was young, but he's been on the straight and narrow for some years . This expression is widely though to come from confusion of straight, "not crooked," with strait, "narrow," owing to a misinterpretation of a passage from the New Testament: "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life" (Matthew 7:14). The current phrase dates only from the first half of the 1800s.
See also: and, straight
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

the straight and narrow

COMMON If someone or something keeps you on the straight and narrow, they help you to live a good, honest life and prevent you from doing immoral or illegal things. He now had his faith to keep him on the straight and narrow. Note: You can also say that someone strays from the straight and narrow, meaning that they stop living a good, honest life and do something immoral or illegal. The goal is to prevent them from straying from the straight and narrow. Note: `Straight' was originally `strait', which meant `narrow'. The expression probably refers to a passage in the Bible: `Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.'(Matthew 7:14)
See also: and, narrow, straight
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

the straight and narrow

morally correct behaviour.
The full form of the expression is the straight and narrow path or way . It developed from a misunderstanding of Matthew 7:14, ‘strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life’, where strait is in fact being used as another word for narrow .
See also: and, narrow, straight
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

a narrow eˈscape/ˈsqueak

a situation where somebody only just avoids injury, danger or failure: We had a narrow escape on the way here. The wind blew a tree down just in front of us. We could have been killed.
See also: escape, narrow, squeak

keep to, stay on, etc. the ˌstraight and ˈnarrow

(informal) live your life according to strict moral principles: She’s stopped drinking and now she’s trying to stay on the straight and narrow.This phrase comes from the Bible, describing the path to Heaven.
See also: and, keep, narrow, stay, straight
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

narrow squeak

n. a success almost not achieved; a lucky or marginal success; a problem almost not surmounted. That was a narrow squeak. I don’t know how I survived.
See also: narrow, squeak
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

straight and narrow, (walk) the

(Follow) the path of virtue. This term probably alludes to the biblical caution, “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life” (Matthew 7:14), life here meaning salvation. Following the straight and narrow, however, was largely a Victorian concept of rectitude, and the term became current in the nineteenth century. John Dos Passos used it in The 42nd Parallel (1930): “Robbins . . . said that he . . . would have to follow the straight and narrow.”
See also: and, straight
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • admiral
  • admiral of the narrow seas
  • empathize
  • empathize with
  • empathize with (someone or something)
  • come over
  • ride (one's) coattails
  • ride on (one's) coattails
  • ride on coattails
  • ride on someone's/something's coat-tails
References in periodicals archive
But this assumption, which Fodor seems to take here for granted, is very controversial, and further, taking it for granted as a premise of an argument for narrow content has a strong odor of question-begging.
Individualism and narrow content
A narrow pulse pressure in shock is consistent with hypovolemic and cardiogenic causes.
A narrow pulse pressure
Do Today's Narrow Emerging Markets Spreads Make You Nervous?
The Bush economy: TIE sat down with Richard Clarida, the Bush Treasury's former point man for economic policy, for some frank talk on deficits, rate spreads, and inflation risks. Here's how he answered our questions
A narrow victory is as good as a landslide, since the power it confers is the same.
Cheer up, the end is near
In a separate study, interventional cardiologists in New Zealand and Europe have implanted degradable stents into 30 patients who had developed dangerously narrow coronary arteries.
Vanishing devices: doctors implant disappearing stents, heart patches
Conventional wisdom for iron casting has been to use tall, narrow runner systems to allow iron slags to float to the top of the runner and stick to the upper runner surface.
Calming the turbulence in your runner system
"Narrow," "closed," "uniform," and "exclusive," consequently, are presumed to be unequivocally bad.
A new A.R.T. form
The Engineered Wood Association released several new computer-aided design (CAD) details of the Narrow Wall Bracing Method, a cost effective bracing solution rapidly gaining favor among code officials, builders and designers for its ability to meet code required wall bracing using site-built techniques and materials.
Narrow wall bracing CAD details available
In an earlier article, Satire had used the expression "strait and narrow," thus setting off a debate among copy editors and other linguists.
The archaeopteryx flaps back into your life
He uses the term "narrow casting" to define his marketing approach.
Yoga and a canoe? Only in Canada
Canyon: A deep, narrow valley with steep, rocky walls; often with a river running along the bottom.
Land and water: the fascinating natural forms all around us
The fairway narrows sharply at the bottom of the horseshoe en route to a long, narrow and well-mounded green.
HOLE OF THE MONTH
Despite the continuation of narrow research models and the perhaps excessive influence of a few French cultural sociologists revealed in many of these essays, this is a good start.
Histories of Leisure
The book begins by defining globalization in a narrow economic terms as the transnationalization of the world economy which, the authors contend, occurred in the latter half of the 20th century.
Vic George and Paul Wilding, Globalization and Human Welfare
Noting that the Treasury Department of IRS have acknowledged the need to sharpen and narrow the regulations' focus, the Institute recommended the adoption of one or more of the following approaches:
Autumn arrives: TEI urges house of commons to shed LCT tax, U.S. and California not to codify economic substance doctrine: also recommends narrowing tax shelter filters, addresses Virginia initiatives