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# straiten

«straiten» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make someone poorer or to limit what they have** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (straiten, straitens, straitened, straitening) — mostly as adjective «straitened»

### meaning for a pupil

1) (formal) To straiten is to make someone poorer or to limit what they have. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/#m1)

2) (old) To straiten is to make something narrow or tight. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/#m2)

3) «In straitened circumstances» (formal) means having very little money. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

A rare, formal word met in old books and stiff exam language. It mostly appears in the phrase «in straitened circumstances» or «straitened times», which tells the reader that a family or person is short of money. In everyday life people say «hard up», «short of money» or «broke».

### examples

- After the factory closed, the family lived in straitened circumstances. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/#x1)
- The village was straitened by the long winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/#x2)
- In straitened times, people mend their clothes instead of buying new ones. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/#x3)
- The war straitened the whole country. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/#x4)
- The old story tells of a widow in straitened circumstances who shared her last loaf. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/#x5)
- The school's straitened budget meant fewer trips. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/#x6)

### note

Do not confuse with «straighten» (to make straight): they sound the same but mean different things. «Strait» means narrow, as in «a strait» of sea or a «straitjacket». The word is rare and formal; use it mainly in «straitened circumstances».

### In the corpora

- ["In straitened circumstances" (old-fashioned) means poor and short of money.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/19-money-and-poverty/7/)
- [Is the spirit of the LORD straitened?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/MIC.27/)
- [When thou goest, thy step shall not be straitened; and if thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.102/)
- [The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/JOB.452/)
- [By the breath of God ice is given, and the breadth of the waters is straitened.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/JOB.983/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «straiten» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/straiten/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.