Emily Dickinson Lexicon

STRAIT, n. [See Straight.]

1. A narrow pass or passage, either in a mountain or in the ocean, between continents or other portions of land; as, the straits of Gibraltar; the straits of Magellan; the straits of Dover. [In this sense, the plural is more generally used than the singular, and often without any apparent reason or propriety.]
2. Distress; difficulty; distressing necessity; formerly written streight. [Used either in the singular or plural.] Let no man who owns a Providence, become desperate under any calamity or strait whatsoever. – South. Ulysses made use of the pretense of natural infirmity to conceal the straits he was in at that time in his thoughts. – Broome.