| English Dictionary |
BROAD
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does broad mean?
• BROAD (noun)
The noun BROAD has 1 sense:
1. slang term for a woman
Familiarity information: BROAD used as a noun is very rare.
• BROAD (adjective)
The adjective BROAD has 8 senses:
1. having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
2. broad in scope or content
3. not detailed or specific
4. lacking subtlety; obvious
5. being at a peak or culminating point
6. very large in expanse or scope
7. (of speech) heavily and noticeably regional
8. showing or characterized by broad-mindedness
Familiarity information: BROAD used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Slang term for a woman
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Context example:
a broad is a woman who can throw a mean punch
Hypernyms ("broad" is a kind of...):
adult female; woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: broadest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
Synonyms:
broad; wide
Context example:
a broad river
Similar:
wide-screen ((motion pictures) projected on a screen with much greater width than height)
sweeping (taking in or moving over (or as if over) a wide area; often used in combination)
fanlike (resembling a fan)
deep (extending relatively far inward)
broad-brimmed ((of hats) having a broad brim)
bird's-eye; panoramic (as from an altitude or distance)
beamy (broad in the beam)
Also:
thick (not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions)
comprehensive (including all or everything)
Attribute:
breadth; width (the extent of something from side to side)
Derivation:
broadness (the property of being wide; having great width)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Broad in scope or content
Synonyms:
across-the-board; all-embracing; all-encompassing; all-inclusive; blanket; broad; encompassing; extensive; panoptic; wide
Context example:
granted him wide powers
Similar:
comprehensive (including all or everything)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not detailed or specific
Synonyms:
broad; unspecific
Context example:
felt an unspecific dread
Similar:
general (applying to all or most members of a category or group)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Lacking subtlety; obvious
Synonyms:
broad; unsubtle
Context example:
gave us a broad hint that it was time to leave
Similar:
clear (readily apparent to the mind)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Being at a peak or culminating point
Synonyms:
broad; full
Context example:
full summer
Similar:
high (greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Very large in expanse or scope
Synonyms:
Context example:
spacious skies
Similar:
big; large (above average in size or number or quantity or magnitude or extent)
Derivation:
broadness (the property of being wide; having great width)
Sense 7
Meaning:
(of speech) heavily and noticeably regional
Context example:
a broad southern accent
Similar:
noticeable (capable or worthy of being noticed)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Showing or characterized by broad-mindedness
Synonyms:
broad; large-minded; liberal; tolerant
Context example:
tolerant of his opponent's opinions
Similar:
broad-minded (inclined to respect views and beliefs that differ from your own)
Context examples
Studies have shown that viperin's expression inhibits a broad spectrum of disease-causing viruses, including hepatitis C, rabies and HIV-1.
(Scientists Discover How Antiviral Gene Works, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The accomplishment will help advance a broad range of research into human health and disease.
(Revealing the human proteome, NIH)
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is caused by an overactive fear memory and includes a broad range of psychological symptoms that can develop after someone goes through a traumatic event.
(Antibiotics Could Prevent, Cure PTSD, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
A high-resolution strip taken at approximately 760 feet (232 meters) per pixel is overlain on a broader, low-resolution image taken at 2,910 feet (889 meters) per pixel.
(Pluto’s ‘Halo’ Craters, NASA)
The spacecraft spied a broad, warm high-altitude vortex at Saturn's southern pole but none at the planet's northern pole.
(Saturn's Famous Hexagon May Tower Above the Clouds, NASA)
“It is incredible to see such low water abundances in the atmospheres of a broad range of planets orbiting a variety of stars,” said Madhusudhan.
(Water common – yet scarce – in exoplanets, University of Cambridge)
It was the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snow were falling around, that the queen of a country many thousand miles off sat working at her window.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
It is a mystery how bands like these are confined to such narrow widths, because Uranus and Neptune have very broad westward-blowing wind jets.
(Hubble Reveals Dynamic Atmospheres of Uranus, Neptune, NASA)
In a healthcare context, empathy refers to care that incorporates understanding of the patient perspective, shared decision making between patient and practitioner, and consideration of the broader context in which illness is experienced.
(Patients with an ‘empathic’ GP at reduced risk of early death, University of Cambridge)
Ceres' uppermost surface is rich in hydrogen, with higher concentrations at mid-to-high latitudes — consistent with broad expanses of water ice.
(Where is the Ice on Ceres?, NASA)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Whatever joy you seek, it can be achieved by yourself; whatever misery you seek, it can be found by yourself." (Bhutanese proverb)
"Suspicion is the sister of the wrong." (Arabic proverb)
"He who protects himself from cold also wards off heat." (Corsican proverb)