Did you know? strait or straight? Straight and strait are homophones (“one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling”), and many people are in the habit of confusing such creatures, particularly when used in fixed phrases.
A strait is a narrow sea channel or a difficult situation — remember that both are difficult to navigate. If you're stranded on a strait off the Black Sea, you might also say that you're in dire straits.
STRAIT definition: 1. a narrow area of sea that connects two larger areas of sea: 2. a difficult situation…. Learn more.
You can refer to a narrow strip of sea which joins two large areas of sea as a strait or the straits. An estimated 1600 vessels pass through the strait annually.
Straits are loci for sediment accumulation, with sand-sized deposits usually occurring on the two strait exits, forming subaqueous fans or deltas. Some straits are not navigable because they are too narrow, too shallow, or due to the presence of a reef or archipelago.
A strait is a narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water. The Strait of Messina, part of which is pictured above, connects the Tyrrhenian Sea (to the west) and the Ionian Sea (to the east).
a. Narrow or confined. b. Fitting tightly; constricted. 3. Strict, rigid, or righteous. [Middle English streit, narrow, a strait, from Old French estreit, tight, narrow, from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere, to draw tight; see streig- in Indo-European roots.]
strait (third-person singular simple present straits, present participle straiting, simple past and past participle straited) (obsolete, transitive) To confine; put to difficulties.