strait: [12] Strait was originally an adjective and adverb, meaning ‘narrow’ or ‘tight’. It reached English via Old French estreit ‘narrow, tight’ from Latin strictus (source of English strict). Its use as a noun, ‘narrow waterway’, emerged in the 14th century, and the metaphorical straits ‘difficulties’ is a 16th-century development. => strict
strait (n.)
mid-14c., "narrow, confined space or place," specifically of bodies of water from late 14c., from Old French estreit, estrait "narrow part, pass, defile, narrow passage of water," noun use of adjective (see strait (adj.)). Sense of "difficulty, plight" (usually straits) first recorded 1540s. Strait and narrow "conventional or wisely limited way of life" is recorded from mid-14c. (compare straight (adj.2)).
strait (adj.)
"narrow, strict" (late 13c.), from Old French estreit, estrait "tight, close-fitting, constricted, narrow" (Modern French étroit), from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere (2) "bind or draw tight" (see strain (v.)). More or less confused with unrelated straight (adj.). Related: Straightly.
双语例句
1. He was criticised for being boring, strait-laced and narrow-minded.
他被指无趣乏味，古板守旧，心胸狭窄。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Yemen commands the strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.
也门完全控制着红海南端的海峡。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Ferries ply across a narrow strait to the island.
渡船定时穿越狭窄的海峡驶向海岛。
来自《权威词典》
4. The ship passed through the strait between two islands.