/ brɔːd; NAmE / adjective , noun
■ adjective
( broad·er , broad·est )
WIDE
1.
wide :
a broad street / avenue / river
broad shoulders
He is tall, broad and muscular.
a broad smile / grin (= one in which your mouth is stretched very wide because you are very pleased or amused)
OPP narrow (1)
2.
used after a measurement of distance to show how wide sth is :
two metres broad and one metre high
WIDE RANGE
3.
including a great variety of people or things :
a broad range of products
a broad spectrum of interests
There is broad support for the government's policies.
She took a broad view of the duties of being a teacher (= she believed her duties included a wide range of things) .
OPP narrow
GENERAL
4.
[ only before noun ] general; not detailed :
the broad outline of a proposal
The negotiators were in broad agreement on the main issues.
She's a feminist, in the broadest sense of the word .
In broad terms , the paper argues that each country should develop its own policy.
LAND / WATER
5.
covering a wide area :
a broad expanse of water
ACCENT
6.
if sb has a broad accent , you can hear very easily which area they come from
SYN strong
HINT
7.
if sb gives a broad hint , they make it very clear what they are thinking or what they want
HUMOUR
8.
( NAmE ) dealing with sex in an amusing way :
The movie mixes broad humor with romance.
—see also breadth , broadly ➡ note at wide
•
IDIOMS
- a broad church
- (in) broad daylight
- it's as broad as it's long
—more at paint verb
■ noun
( old-fashioned , NAmE , slang ) an offensive way of referring to a woman
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English brād , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch breed and German breit .