STRAIT
Dictionary entry overview: What does strait mean?
• STRAIT (noun)
The noun STRAIT has 2 senses:
1. a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water
2. a bad or difficult situation or state of affairs
Familiarity information: STRAIT used as a noun is rare.
• STRAIT (adjective)
The adjective STRAIT has 1 sense:
1. strict and severe
Familiarity information: STRAIT used as an adjective is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
• STRAIT (noun)
Meaning:
A narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Synonyms:
strait; sound
Hypernyms ("strait" is a kind of...):
channel (a deep and relatively narrow body of water (as in a river or a harbor or a strait linking two larger bodies) that allows the best passage for vessels)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "strait"):
narrow (a narrow strait connecting two bodies of water)
Instance hyponyms:
Canakkale Bogazi; Dardanelles; Hellespont (the strait between the Aegean and the Sea of Marmara that separates European Turkey from Asian Turkey)
Solent (a strait of the English Channel between the coast of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight)
Strait of Georgia (the strait separating Vancouver Island from the Canadian mainland)
Strait of Gibraltar (the strait between Spain and Africa)
Strait of Hormuz; Strait of Ormuz (a strategically important strait linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman)
Strait of Magellan (the strait separating South America from Tierra del Fuego and other islands south of the continent; discovered by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520; an important route around South America before the Panama Canal was built)
Strait of Messina (the strait separating Sicily from the tip of Italy)
Pas de Calais; Strait of Calais; Strait of Dover (the strait between the English Channel and the North Sea; shortest distance between England and the European continent)
Torres Strait (a strait between northeastern Australia and southern New Guinea that connects the Coral Sea with the Arafura Sea)
Skagerak; Skagerrak (a broad strait of the North Sea between Jutland and Norway)
North Channel (a strait between Northern Ireland and Scotland that connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea)
East River (a tidal strait separating Manhattan and the Bronx from Queens and Brooklyn)
Bering Strait (a strait connecting the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean)
Bosporus (a strait connecting the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; separates the European and Asian parts of Turkey; an important shipping route)
Cook Strait (a narrow strait separating the North Island and South Island in New Zealand)
Golden Gate (a strait in western California that connects the San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean; discovered in 1579 by Sir Francis Drake)
Kattegatt (a strait of the North Sea between Jutland and Sweden; connects with the North Sea through the Skagerrak)
Korea Strait; Korean Strait (a strait between Korea and Japan; connects the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan)
Menai Strait (a strait in northern Wales between Anglesey Island and the mainland)
Meaning:
A bad or difficult situation or state of affairs
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Synonyms:
straits; strait; pass
Hypernyms ("strait" is a kind of...):
situation (a complex or critical or unusual difficulty)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "strait"):
desperate straits; dire straits (a state of extreme distress)
• STRAIT (adjective)
Meaning:
Strict and severe
Context example:
strait is the gate
Similar:
narrow (not wide)
Domain usage:
archaicism; archaism (the use of an archaic expression)
