Dictionary

widen en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈwaɪdn̩/

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁ From wide + -en (verbal suffix).

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To become wide or wider.
   • His eyes widened as her negligee fell to the floor.
2. (transitive) To make wide or wider.
   • But he still saw his side produce a rousing display which owed much to their lauded prowess from set-pieces, despite Uefa regulations meaning the pitch had to be widened and, in the process, the run-up area for Delap's long throws reduced. 2011 September 29, Tom Rostance, “Stoke 2 - 1 Besiktas”, in BBC Sport:
   • The widening works include the rebuilding of the skew bridge near Northwood to take four tracks, and to enable the Rickmansworth Road to be widened to 60 ft.; […]. 1959 November 14, “Notes and News: Harrow-Rickmansworth Widening”, in Railway Magazine, page 802:
3. (transitive) To let out clothes to a larger size.
   • She widened his trousers for him.
4. (transitive) To broaden or extend in scope or range.
   • While the primary focus of the Sexual Orientation Committee had been to lobby for gay rights legislation, the new Task Force hopes to widen its activities. The Task Force ― in addition to lobbying — hopes to function as an "umbrella organization," facilitating communication between the state's many gay groups. 1976 December 18, “Connecticut Task”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 25, page 2:
   • Correspondent Gerardo Arreola interviewed Castro Espín for the Jan. 9, 2006, issue of La Jornada about the move to widen rights for transsexuals. 2007 August 6, Leslie Feinberg, “Cuba's CENESEX proposes ground-breaking transsexual rights”, in Workers World:
   • The police widened their enquiries.
5. (transitive) To convert to a data type that can hold a larger number of distinct values.
   • to widen a short variable to an int variable

Forms

Antonyms

narrow · lengthen · straiten · shorten

Deriveds

rewiden · widen up · overwiden · widenable · enwiden · widener

Hypernyms

increase · expand · enlarge

Relateds

dilate

Synonyms

breadthen · broaden · widen · enwiden · thicken · widthen

Translations (74)

bg разширявам се (to become wider) · fr élargir (to let out clothes) · ru расши́рить (to make wider) · rup lãrdzescu (to make wider) · gl anchear (to become wider) · pl poszerzać się (to become wider) · yi אויסברייטערן (to make wider) · ckb پان کردن (to make wider) · mi whakawhānui (to broaden or extend) · pl poszerzyć (to make wider) · de sich weiten (to become wider) · ru расши́рить (to broaden or extend) · ca eixamplar (to broaden or extend) · it allargarsi (to become wider) · pt alargar (to make wider) · ga leathnaigh (to become wider) · bg отпускам (to let out clothes) · sv vidga (to make wider) · ca estendre (to broaden or extend) · fr élargir (to broaden or extend) · fi laajentaa (to make wider) · yi אויסברייטערן זיך (to become wider) · ja 広がる (to become wider) · pl poszerzać (to make wider) · io larjeskar (to become wider) · ja 広まる (to become wider) · mr रुंद होणे (to become wider) · de weiten (to make wider) · pl poszerzać (to let out clothes) · ja 広める (to make wider) · ja 大きくする (to let out clothes) · ang wīdian (to become wider) · la ampliō (to make wider) · mi whakawhānui (to make wider) · fi leventää (to let out clothes) · pl poszerzyć się (to become wider) · ru расширя́ться (to become wider) · mr रुंद करणे (to make wider) · mr रुंदावणे (to make wider) · sv vidga sig (to become wider) · io larjigar (to make wider) · ru расширя́ть (to make wider) · fi laajentaa (to broaden or extend) · ja 拡張する (to broaden or extend) · de erweitern (to broaden or extend) · pl poszerzyć (to broaden or extend) · fr s’élargir (to become wider) · bg разширявам (to make wider) · ga leathnaigh (to broaden or extend) · it allargare (to broaden or extend) · sv vidga (to broaden or extend) · fr élargir (to make wider) · ru расши́риться (to become wider) · cmn 擴大 /扩大 (to become wider) · ckb پان بوون (to become wider) · izh levetä (to become wider) · sv utöka (to broaden or extend) · gl anchear (to make wider) · mwl alargar (to make wider) · bg разширявам (to broaden or extend) · ru расширя́ть (to broaden or extend) · mwl alhargar (to make wider) · ja 広める (to broaden or extend) · sv utvidga (to broaden or extend) · ga leathnaigh (to make wider) · fi laajentua (to become wider) · pl poszerzyć (to let out clothes) · it allargare (to make wider) · ja 広げる (to make wider) · ca ampliar (to make wider) · pl poszerzać (to broaden or extend) · de erweitern (to make wider) · ro lărgi (to make wider) · cs rozšířit (to make wider)