Strict interpretation: confine statutory meaning to narrow or literal senses, resisting expansion beyond textual limits. Strict interpretation limits a provision to its narrowest or most literal meaning or to the specific intentions ascribed to its authors, rejecting expansion by implication or equitable considerations. Synonymous with strict construction and interpretatio stricta, it contrasts with liberal interpretation and cautions that the term 'strict' may denote either literal or narrow senses; when ambiguity exists the narrow sense is not necessarily the literal sense, and reasonable doubts are resolved against extending statutory applicability.