mushroom 2, verb (oh) and narrow(1) (iou)

mushroom 2, verb (oh)

2 v [I]
to grow and develop very quickly
::New housing developments mushroomed on the edge of town.

narrow adjective & noun.
[Old English nearu (stem nearw-) = Old Saxon naru (Middle Dutch nare, naer, Dutch naar), from Germanic (repr. in Middle High German narwe, German Narbe, Middle Low German nar(w)e use as noun of adjective = 'scar'), with no certain cognates.]
A. adjective.
Small in breadth or width in proportion to length; lacking breadth. OE.
straight and narrow: see STRAIGHT adjective1.
B. Moore A narrow window twelve feet long by two feet wide. J. Gardam A lane so narrow that the bushes tangled their fingers together overhead. J. Wilcox Mrs. Undine hunched her narrow shoulders.
Lacking space or area, confined, constricted; confining. OE.
O. Sitwell An unparalleled concentration..of human beings within the narrow borders of a small island.
a. Sparing, parsimonious, mean. Now Scot. & dial. ME.
b. Restricted or rigid in views; intolerant, illiberal, prejudiced; unimaginative. E17.
J. Grenfell People are very narrow where I live. They have such little lives.
c. Reluctant to admit new members, exclusive. M19.
Searching, precise, careful. (Earlier in NARROWLY 1.) ME.
Limited in range, scope, or amount; restricted, straitened. LME.
R. Adams Peasant girls..accustomed to a narrow life of daily toil. A. Thwaite Intense concern that the boy should remain within the cage of his own narrow dogma.
b. Of time: short, brief. rare. E17.
a. Approaching the truth. M16-L17.
b. Barely achieved, with little margin. L16.
Day Lewis I attribute my narrow victory..to a handful of aged voters. P. Warner He had a narrow escape when an attempt was made to poison him.
Phonetics.
a. Of a vowel: pronounced with the vocal muscles relatively tense. Opp. WIDE adjective 6b. M19.
b. Designating a phonetic transcription that distinguishes both phonemes and allophones. L19.
Special collocations: narrow axe US an axe with a narrow head. narrowback US slang a US citizen of Irish ancestry. narrow band (Physics etc.) a band of frequencies, wavelengths, etc., lying within narrowly-defined limits. narrow boat a long narrow canal boat, spec. one not exceeding 7 feet (2.1 metres) in width. narrowcast verb & noun (orig. US) (a) verb trans. & intrans. transmit (a Television etc. programme), esp. by cable, to an audience limited by interests or location; (b) noun (an act of) transmitting in this way; a programme transmitted in this way. narrowcaster (orig. US) a person who or thing which narrowcasts. narrow circumstances poverty. narrow-cut adjective (Photography) (of a filter) transmitting only a narrow band of wavelengths. narrow fabrics braid, ribbons, bindings, etc. narrow gauge (a) a railway gauge narrower than the standard one (in Great Britain 56 1 / 2 inches, approx. 1.435 metres); (b) Cinematography a width of Film narrower than the standard one (16 mm rather than 35 mm). narrow goods = narrow fabrics above. narrow-minded adjective rigid or restricted in one's views, intolerant. narrow-mindedly adverb in a narrow-minded manner. narrow-mindedness the quality or condition of being narrow-minded. narrow money Economics money in forms that can be used as a medium of exchange, generally notes, coins, and certain balances held by banks. narrow seas the seas separating Britain from Ireland on the one side and Continental Europe on the Other. narrow squeak a narrow escape; a Success barely attained. narrow way [Matthew 7:14] righteousness.
b. noun.
A narrow part, place, or thing; the narrow part of something. Now rare exc. as below. ME.
spec. (sing. & (usu.) in pl.). A narrow part of a strait or river; a narrow part of a street; (chiefly US) a narrow part of a valley, a pass; Mining a narrow gallery. M17.
narrowish adjective L18.
narrowness noun ME.

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