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Narrow vs Hollow - What's the difference?

narrow | hollow |

In figuratively terms the difference between narrow and hollow

is that narrow is restrictive; without flexibility or latitude while hollow is a feeling of emptiness.

In transitive terms the difference between narrow and hollow

is that narrow is to reduce in width or extent; to contract while hollow is to make a hole in something; to excavate.

As an adverb hollow is

completely, as part of the phrase beat hollow or beat all hollow.

As an interjection hollow is

alternative form of lang=en.

narrow

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Having a small width; not wide; slim; slender; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
  • , chapter=1 citation , passage=She was like a Beardsley Salome , he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=14 citation , passage=Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.}}
  • Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.
  • * Bishop Wilkins
  • The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world.
  • (figuratively) Restrictive; without flexibility or latitude.
  • Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted.
  • a narrow''' mind; '''narrow views
  • * Macaulay
  • a narrow understanding
  • Having a small margin or degree.
  • The Republicans won by a narrow majority.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs
  • , title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia, work=BBC Sport citation , passage=As in their narrow defeat of Argentina last week, England were indisciplined at the breakdown, and if Georgian fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili had remembered his kicking boots, Johnson's side might have been behind at half-time.}}
  • (dated) Limited as to means; straitened; pinching.
  • narrow circumstances
  • Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.
  • * Smalridge
  • a very narrow and stinted charity
  • Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.
  • * Milton
  • But first with narrow search I must walk round / This garden, and no corner leave unspied.
  • (phonetics) Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; distinguished from wide.
  • Antonyms

    * wide * broad

    Derived terms

    * narrowboat, narrow boat * narrow-minded * narrowness

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To reduce in width or extent; to contract.
  • We need to narrow the search.
  • To get narrower.
  • The road narrows .
  • (knitting) To contract the size of, as a stocking, by taking two stitches into one.
  • Synonyms
    * taper

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (chiefly, in the plural) A narrow passage, especially a contracted part of a stream, lake, or sea; a strait connecting two bodies of water.
  • the Narrows of New York harbor
  • * Gladstone
  • Near the island lay on one side the jaws of a dangerous narrow .
    1000 English basic words

    hollow

    English

    Alternative forms

    * holler

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) holw, holh, from (etyl) . More at cave.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (of something solid) Having an empty space or cavity inside.
  • a hollow''' tree; a '''hollow sphere
  • (of a sound) Distant]], eerie; echoing, [[reverberate, reverberating, as if in a hollow space; dull, muffled; often low-pitched.
  • a hollow moan
    (Dryden)
  • (figuratively) Without substance; having no real or significant worth; meaningless.
  • a hollow victory
  • (figuratively) Insincere, devoid of validity; specious.
  • a hollow promise
  • Depressed; concave; gaunt; sunken.
  • * Shakespeare
  • With hollow eye and wrinkled brow.
    Derived terms
    * hollow leg

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (colloquial) Completely, as part of the phrase beat hollow or beat all hollow.
  • Etymology 2

    (etyl) holow, earlier holgh, from (etyl) . See above.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small valley between mountains; a low spot surrounded by elevations.
  • * Prior
  • Forests grew upon the barren hollows .
  • * Tennyson
  • I hate the dreadful hollow behind the little wood.
    He built himself a cabin in a hollow high up in the Rockies.
  • A sunken area or unfilled space in something solid; a cavity, natural or artificial.
  • the hollow of the hand or of a tree
  • (US) A sunken area.
  • (figuratively) A feeling of emptiness.
  • a hollow in the pit of one's stomach

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to make a hole in something; to excavate (transitive)
  • Etymology 3

    Compare holler.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To urge or call by shouting; to hollo.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • He has hollowed the hounds.

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (Webster 1913)