narrowing

1. Present participle and gerund of narrow.
   • 1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449:

     All three parallel valleys of the Llynvi, Garw and Ogmore are much the same in physical character: the lower reaches are wooded and not unattractive, but as the railway climbs on ever-steepening grades, the hills on either hand grow barer and closer together, while in all respects the scene becomes more sombre, with the terraced, slate-roofed colliery towns and the road, railway and river all struggling for space in the narrowing defiles.

narrowing (plural narrowings)

1. The process of becoming narrow.

   narrowings of the road

   • 1949 November and December, “Notes and News: The High Level Bridge, Newcastle: Strengthening and Repairs”, in Railway Magazine, page 407:

     Owing to the war, it was not thought advisable to carry out repairs to this pier, as this would have involved the temporary narrowing of the channel, and it was not until 1919 that it was decided to proceed with the construction of a steel-pile coffer dam round the south pier.

2. The part of a stocking that is narrowed.
   • 1858, Margaret Maria Gordon, Household economy, page 60:

     It may be observed, as a general rule, that the length of a stocking, before the narrowings, should be, at the least, equal to twice the width of the top...

• narrowing conversion