INDEX:
1. a long distance from one side to another
2. how wide something is
3. to become wider
4. to make something wider
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ NARROW
when people or things are spread over a wide area : ↑ SPREAD (4-5)
see also
↑ FAT
↑ THICK
↑ LONG
↑ THIN
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1. a long distance from one side to another
▷ wide /waɪd/ [adjective]
if a road, river, space, object etc is wide, there is a large distance between one side of it and the other :
▪ The girl led me down a wide corridor into a large office.
▪ The doorway wasn’t quite wide enough to get the piano through.
▪ a wide leather belt
▷ broad /brɔːd/ [adjective] written
wide - use this especially to describe roads, paths, or parts of someone’s body :
▪ We drove down the broad tree-lined avenue.
▪ He was six feet tall with broad shoulders and strong arms.
2. how wide something is
▷ how wide /haʊ ˈwaɪd/ [adjective phrase]
use this to ask or talk about how wide something is :
▪ How wide is the main hall?
▪ I’m not sure how wide the window is.
▷ 2 miles wide/20 metres wide etc /ˌtuː maɪlz ˈwaɪd/ [adjective phrase]
use this to say exactly how wide something is :
▪ The river is over a mile wide here.
▪ Cut a strip of paper 3cm wide.
▷ 2 miles across/20 metres across etc /ˌtuː maɪlz əˈkrɒsǁ-əˈkrɔːs/ [adjective phrase]
use this to say exactly how wide something is :
▪ a narrow opening only a few metres across
▷ width /wɪdθ/ [countable/uncountable noun]
how wide something is :
▪ Carpets are available in several different widths.
width of
▪ The huge vehicle took up the whole width of the road.
▪ Can you just measure the width of the door?
3. to become wider
▷ become/get wider /bɪˌkʌm, ˌget ˈwaɪdəʳ/ [verb phrase]
▪ The river starts to get wider at Lyon.
▪ The gap between the boat and the pier was getting wider and wider.
▪ The path gradually became wider as we came down off the mountain.
▷ widen /ˈwaɪdn/ [intransitive verb]
to become wider - use this especially in written descriptions of places :
▪ The road widened again when we came out of the tunnel.
▪ From Horton, the valley widens, becoming broader and more expansive.
4. to make something wider
▷ make something wider /ˌmeɪk something ˈwaɪdəʳ/ [verb phrase]
▪ I think we’ll have to make the door a bit wider so that wheelchairs can get through.
▪ Why don’t you make the table wider?
▷ widen /ˈwaɪdn/ [transitive verb]
to make something such as a road wider, especially in a deliberately planned way :
▪ A lot of local residents are against council plans to widen the road.
▪ Later the tunnel was widened to accommodate larger vehicles.