| English Dictionary |
WIDE
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| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does wide mean?
• WIDE (adjective)
The adjective WIDE has 7 senses:
1. having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
2. broad in scope or content
3. (used of eyes) fully open or extended
4. very large in expanse or scope
5. great in degree
6. having ample fabric
7. not on target
Familiarity information: WIDE used as an adjective is common.
• WIDE (adverb)
The adverb WIDE has 4 senses:
1. with or by a broad space
2. to the fullest extent possible
3. far from the intended target
4. to or over a great extent or range; far
Familiarity information: WIDE used as an adverb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: widest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
Synonyms:
broad; wide
Context example:
a broad river
Similar:
beamy (broad in the beam)
bird's-eye; panoramic (as from an altitude or distance)
broad-brimmed ((of hats) having a broad brim)
deep (extending relatively far inward)
fanlike (resembling a fan)
sweeping (taking in or moving over (or as if over) a wide area; often used in combination)
wide-screen ((motion pictures) projected on a screen with much greater width than height)
Also:
comprehensive (including all or everything)
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)
Attribute:
breadth; width (the extent of something from side to side)
Antonym:
narrow (not wide)
Derivation:
wideness (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)
Derivation:
wideness (unusual largeness in size or extent or number)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(used of eyes) fully open or extended
Synonyms:
wide; wide-eyed
Context example:
stared with wide eyes
Similar:
open; opened (used of mouth or eyes)
Sense 4
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:
wideness (unusual largeness in size or extent or number)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Great in degree
Context example:
won by a wide margin
Similar:
comfortable (more than adequate)
Antonym:
narrow (very limited in degree)
Derivation:
wideness (unusual largeness in size or extent or number)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Having ample fabric
Synonyms:
Context example:
a full skirt
Similar:
ample (more than enough in size or scope or capacity)
Derivation:
wideness (unusual largeness in size or extent or number)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Not on target
Synonyms:
wide; wide of the mark
Context example:
a claim that was wide of the truth
Similar:
inaccurate (not accurate)
Sense 1
Meaning:
With or by a broad space
Context example:
ran wide around left end
Sense 2
Meaning:
To the fullest extent possible
Context example:
with the throttle wide open
Sense 3
Meaning:
Far from the intended target
Synonyms:
astray; wide
Context example:
a bullet went astray and killed a bystander
Sense 4
Meaning:
To or over a great extent or range; far
Synonyms:
wide; widely
Context example:
he traveled widely
Context examples
I can now travel into the wide world, and make myself merry.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an impression behind it as though a window had gently closed somewhere.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I took a wide sweep round, and there is no path within fifty yards.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Between mama and me, in all relating to you, there was a wide division.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Wolf's trot broke into a run. Wider and wider were the leaps he made.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Georgiana almost started, and she opened her blue eyes wild and wide.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Give me the great waste lands and the wide spaces, with a gun in my fist and somethin' to look for that's worth findin'.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
ARID family proteins may be involved in a wide range of DNA interactions.
(ARID Domain, NCI Thesaurus)
He saw with wide eyes, and he could tell what he saw.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It was not wide open, but the catch of the lock had not caught.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
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