n. & adj.
n. 1 (in sing. or pl.) a narrow passage of water connecting two seas or large bodies of water. 2 (usu. in pl.) difficulty, trouble, or distress (usu. in dire or desperate straits).
adj. archaic 1 narrow, limited; confined or confining. 2 strict or rigorous. strait-laced severely virtuous; morally scrupulous; puritanical. straitly adv. straitness n.
[ ME streit f. OF estreit tight, narrow f. L strictus STRICT ]