# widen

Pronunciation: US say "WY-duhn" /ˈwaɪdn̩/; UK

## Verb

1. To make something wider or broader than it was.
   - Simple: To make something wider than it was before.
   - _The city plans to widen the highway to ease traffic._
   - _Engineers widened the canal to allow larger ships through._
2. To become wider or more open.
   - Simple: To grow wider, or become more open.
   - _The gap between the two leading teams continued to widen._
   - _The valley widens as the trail descends toward the river._
3. To broaden or extend something in scope or range.
   - Simple: To make something cover more people, ideas, or areas.
   - _The company hopes to widen its customer base across Europe._
   - _The new policy widened access to healthcare for rural families._
4. To alter a garment by letting it out to a larger size.
   - Simple: To make a piece of clothing bigger so it fits.
   - _The seamstress agreed to widen the pants at the waist._
   - _He had his old suit widened to fit his broader frame._
5. To convert a value to a data type that can hold a larger range of distinct values.
   - Simple: To change a value's type so a computer can store bigger numbers.
   - _Compilers automatically widen a byte to an integer during arithmetic._
   - _The function widens the input to a 64-bit type before processing it._

## Origin

Formed from the adjective "wide" combined with the verb-forming suffix "-en".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/widen (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).