All 3 Uses of
strait
in
Gone with the Wind
- But now, even the most strait laced felt that patriotism called upon them to be more broad minded.†
Chpt 2.12strait = narrow water passage
- Any time she wanted to fill her house with guests, she could do so and these guests would be far more entertaining, far more handsomely dressed than those prissy, strait-laced old fools who disapproved of her.†
Chpt 5.49 *
- Oh, men are so conceited they'll believe anything that flatters them......I must never let him dream what straits we're in, not till I've got him.†
Chpt 4.32 *
Definitions:
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(1)
(strait as in: Strait of Hormuz) a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water
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(2)
(strait as in: put her in a tough strait) a bad or difficult situation
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(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, strait can mean narrow or cramped -- as used in the compound word straitjacket. Similarly, it can mean rigid as in strait-laced.
These words are sometimes spelled straight*, but strait is a different word than straight -- which has many meanings.