Talk:straiten

Doesn't straiten also mean "to bring into financial difficulty"?

You are probably thinking of usage like: "They are in dire financial straits." or "They are in straitened (financial) circumstances." I believe that the usage is derived from the sense of "restrict", as in "belt-tightening", "budgetary restraint". Because the word "straiten" is no longer much used in other contexts, its appropriate dictionary meaning may need to make the financial sense more explicit and show the broader meaning as dated. DCDuring TALK 20:54, 22 May 2008 (UTC)