1. to make narrow or restricted; to confine or limit
Usage: formal; often used in passive voice
2. to cause financial hardship or difficulty
Usage: formal; often in phrase 'straitened circumstances'

Examples

• The narrow canyon walls straitened the river's flow.
• Budget cuts have straitened the department's resources.
• The family found themselves in straitened circumstances after the job loss.
• Economic hardship straitened their living conditions.
• The regulations straiten the company's ability to expand.
• Rising costs have straitened many households this year.