STRAITEN, verb transitive 1. To make narrow. In narrow circuit, straitend by a foe. 2. To contract; to confine; as, to straiten the British commerce. 3. To make tense or tight; as, to straiten a cord. 4. To distress; to perplex; to press with poverty or other necessity; as, a man straitened in his circumstances. 5. To press by want of sufficient room. Waters when straitened, as at the falls of bridges, give a roaring noise.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI