Emily Dickinson Lexicon

STRAIT, a. [See Straight.]

1. Narrow; close; not broad. Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it. – Matth. vii.
2. Close; intimate; as, a strait degree of favor. – Sidney.
3. Strict; rigorous. He now, forsooth, takes on him to reform / Some certain edicts, and some strait decrees. – Shak.
4. Difficult; distressful.
5. Straight; not crooked.