Strait"ness, n. The quality or condition of being strait; especially, a
pinched condition or situation caused by poverty; as, the straitnessof
their circumstances.
Strait"-waist`coat (?), n. Same as Strait-jacket.
Strake (?), obs. imp. of Strike. Spenser.
Strake, n. [See Streak.] 1. A streak. [Obs.] Spenser."White strake."
Gen. xxx. 37.
2. An iron band by which the fellies of a wheel are secured to each
other, being not continuous, as the tire is, but made up of separate
pieces.
3. (Shipbuilding) One breadth of planks or plates forming a continuous
range on the bottom or sides of a vessel, reaching from the stem to the
stern; a streak.
The planks or plates next the keel are called the garboard strakes; the
next, or the heavy strakes at the bilge, are the bilge strakes; the
next, from the water line to the lower port sill, the wales; and the
upper parts of the sides, the sheer strakes.
4. (Mining) A trough for washing broken ore, gravel, or sand; a
launder.