strait
[noun]
Synonyms:
- often plural: channel, narrows, sound
- straits: difficulty, dilemma, extremity, hardship, plight, predicament

---

Related Words: bind, squeeze, difficulty, hardship, rigor, vicissitude, bewilderment, mystification, perplexity

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

strait /streɪt/ noun [countable]
[Date: 1300-1400; Origin: strait 'narrow' (13-20 centuries), from Old French estreit, from Latin strictus; ⇒ strict]

1. (also straits [plural]) a narrow passage of water between two areas of land, usually connecting two seas:
the Bering Strait

2. be in dire straits to be in a very difficult situation, especially a financial one:
After the war, the country’s economy was in dire straits.
The firm is now in dire financial straits.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

strait
noun
I. narrow piece of water connecting seas, etc.
ADJ. narrow
VERB + STRAIT go through, pass through | enter
STRAIT + VERB separate sth The oil terminal is in the narrow strait that separates the island from the mainland.
PREP. across the ~ He tried to swim across the Straits of Gibraltar.
in the ~ a ship anchored in the Straits of Hormuz
on the ~ The town is on the straits between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
through the ~ Many hundreds of vessels pass through the straits each year.
~ between 2 straits trouble
ADJ. desperate, dire, serious | financial
PREP. in ~ The business is in dire financial straits.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲