straiten

I want you to consider what per cent you can pay, and not straiten yourselves too much.

From Hope Mills or, Between Friend and Sweetheart by Amanda Minnie Douglas

I absolutely must reform, for I do not propose that my father shall straiten himself for me; and that is what will happen if I continue to lead the life I have been leading.

From San-Cravate; or, The Messengers; Little Streams by Charles Paul de Kock

Chicane in furs, and Casuistry in lawn, Gasps, as they straiten at each end the cord, And dies, when Dulness gives her page the word.

From The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 2 by George Gilfillan

Las Torres therefore determined to seize these places, which were distant about fifteen miles from his camp, and so to straiten the town for provisions.

From The Bravest of the Brave — or, with Peterborough in Spain by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

Pray don't straiten your lips in that grievously defiant fashion, as Perpetua doubtless did when she heard the bellowing of beasts or the clash of steel in the amphitheatre.

From Infelice by Augusta J. (Augusta Jane) Evans