Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Narrow for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "narrow" — adjective and verb, pronounced /ˈnærəʊ/, with the stress on "na".
Narrator: Narrow means limited in width, or, as a verb, to reduce scope or possibilities.
Narrator: In plain English, narrow describes physical thinness, and separately, reducing options deliberately.
Narrator: It traces to Old English "nearu", a Germanic word meaning constricted or tight.
Narrator: "Narrow the search" describes deliberately reducing options to reach a more specific result.
Narrator: It differs from "thin" by application — narrow describes width specifically, thin can describe many dimensions.
Narrator: "Narrow escape" figuratively describes barely avoiding a dangerous or unfortunate outcome.
Narrator: Everyday description and search-refinement instructions both constantly rely on "narrow".
Narrator: So remember: narrow marks limited width — physical thinness, or figuratively, deliberately reducing scope or options.
Speaker A: "Narrow escape" always sounds so tense. Is that figurative sense really connected to the literal, physical-width meaning of narrow?
Speaker B: Genuinely, loosely connected, honestly! NARROW, from Old English "nearu", constricted, extends figuratively into describing a tight, limited margin of safety, as though danger passed through a small, narrow gap. Both senses involve tightness.
Speaker A: So the tense feeling really does borrow that same tight-margin idea from the literal, physical meaning?
Speaker B: Exactly — that tight margin is precisely why narrow escape feels so dramatically tense!
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "The corridor was surprisingly narrow"; "please narrow your search terms"; "she had a narrow escape from danger" — physical description, practical instruction, and dramatic outcome.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: As verb, regular — narrow, narrowed, narrowed; comparative "narrower", superlative "narrowest" as adjective!
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: "Thin" the general cousin, "tight" the constricted twin, "restrict" the verb-form alternative. Narrow keeps its precise, versatile charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "narrow" in AI prompts — useful for search-filter refinement features and UI sidebar-width responsive-design tools.
Speaker A: So narrow in a prompt could help build a search-filter refinement, or design a responsive UI sidebar width?
Speaker B: Right. For a search-filter refinement feature, you'd write:
Prompt: Let users narrow the search results by price range and category, updating the list instantly with each filter.
Speaker A: Good — what about a responsive UI design that keeps the sidebar narrow on smaller screens?
Speaker B: The UI-design prompt:
Prompt: Keep the sidebar narrow on smaller screens, collapsing it into an icon-only view below a set breakpoint.
Speaker A: A recommendation engine narrowing suggestions based on a user's most recent, specific search behaviour?
Speaker B: The recommendation-engine prompt:
Prompt: Narrow the product recommendations based on the user's most recent search, prioritising close matches over general items.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: The database-query prompt:
Prompt: Narrow this query using an indexed date range, reducing the dataset before running the more expensive join.
Narrow — meaning in Arabic & definition More N courses GL Dictionary