widen

verb

USWY-duhn/ˈwaɪdn̩/

Formswidens, widening, widened

5 meanings of widen

1
verbtransitive
To make something wider than it was before.
Like opening a door more so a bigger crowd can walk through.
Workers will widen the road next summer.
They widened the gate so trucks could fit through.
Similarbroaden, enlarge, expand
Oppositenarrow
2
verbintransitive
To grow wider, or become more open.
Like a crack in the ice slowly getting bigger on its own.
Rivers widen as they flow toward the ocean.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Similarbroaden, expand, grow
Oppositenarrow, shrink
Note
3
verbtransitive
To make something cover more people, ideas, or areas.
Like opening a net wider so it can catch more fish.
The school wants to widen its list of subjects.
They widened the search to include nearby towns.
Similarbroaden, expand, extend
Oppositenarrow, restrict, limit
Note
4
verbtransitive
To make a piece of clothing bigger so it fits.
Like letting out a belt one more hole so it fits.
The tailor will widen the jacket at the shoulders.
She widened the dress so it would fit her sister.
Similarenlarge, loosen
5
verbtransitive
To change a value's type so a computer can store bigger numbers.
Like moving things into a bigger box so more can fit inside.
The computer will widen the number so it can store larger values.
They widened the variable to prevent errors during the calculation.
Similarpromote
Oppositenarrow
Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of widen apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From the word "wide" plus "-en", an ending used to make verbs.