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.
Phrases and idioms:
strait-laced severely virtuous; morally scrupulous; puritanical.
Derivatives:
straitly adv. straitness n.
Etymology: ME streit f. OF estreit tight, narrow f. L strictus STRICT