wide

[wahyd] /waɪd/
adjective, wider, widest.
1.
having considerable or great extent from side to side; broad:
a wide boulevard.
2.
having a certain or specified extent from side to side:
three feet wide.
3.
of great horizontal extent; extensive; vast; spacious:
the wide plains of the West.
4.
of great range or scope; embracing a great number or variety of subjects, cases, etc.:
wide experience.
5.
open to the full or a great extent; expanded; distended:
to stare with wide eyes.
6.
apart or remote from a specified point or object:
a guess wide of the truth.
7.
too far or too much to one side:
a shot wide of the mark.
8.
Baseball. outside (def 16):
The pitch was wide of the plate.
9.
full, ample, or roomy, as clothing:
He wore wide, flowing robes.
10.
Phonetics, lax (def 7).
11.
British Slang. shrewd; wary.
adverb
12.
to the full extent of opening:
Open your mouth wide.
13.
to the utmost, or fully:
to be wide awake.
14.
away from or to one side of a point, mark, purpose, or the like; aside; astray:
The shot went wide.
15.
over an extensive space or region, or far abroad:
scattered far and wide.
16.
to a great, or relatively great, extent from side to side:
The river runs wide here.
noun
17.
Cricket. a bowled ball that goes wide of the wicket, and counts as a run for the side batting.
18.
Archaic. a wide space or expanse.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English wīd; cognate with Dutch wijd, German weit, Old Norse vīthr
Related forms
wideness, noun
overwide, adjective
overwidely, adverb
overwideness, noun
superwide, adjective
ultrawide, adjective
Synonyms
1. Wide, broad refer to dimensions. They are often interchangeable, but wide especially applies to things of which the length is much greater than the width: a wide road, piece of ribbon. Broad is more emphatic, and applies to things of considerable or great width, breadth, or extent, especially to surfaces extending laterally: a broad valley. 3. boundless; comprehensive; ample.
Antonyms
1. narrow.

-wide

1.
a combining form of wide, forming from nouns adjectives with the general sense “extending or applying throughout a given space,” as specified by the noun:
communitywide; countrywide; worldwide.
Examples from the web for wide
  • The other half sat in expansive postures with their legs spread wide or their arms reaching outward.
  • While gossip may spread far and wide in academia, it doesn't matter.
  • Often barely three feet wide and half that deep, the lowly acequia is a hand-dug, lovingly maintained ditch.
  • Those partnerships pose a wide range of payoffs and risks, the agency says.
  • Quite how wide a net the new law will cast is not clear.
  • She looked so beautiful when flying as the wings were wide open and it showcased all of her beautiful colors.
  • Since the early days of manned space flight, engineers have designed a wide variety of space suits.
  • For bike enthusiasts, ain't no mountain high enough and now ain't no river wide enough.
  • Polymers can fulfill a wide variety of functions thanks to properties such as high strength, solvent resistance and insulation.
  • The pits, which appear to untrained eyes as ponds or depressions in the ground, are a few yards to hundreds of yards wide.
British Dictionary definitions for wide

wide

/waɪd/
adjective
1.
having a great extent from side to side
2.
of vast size or scope; spacious or extensive
3.
  1. (postpositive) having a specified extent, esp from side to side: two yards wide
  2. (in combination) covering or extending throughout: nationwide
4.
distant or remote from the desired point, mark, etc: your guess is wide of the mark
5.
(of eyes) opened fully
6.
loose, full, or roomy: wide trousers
7.
exhibiting a considerable spread, as between certain limits: a wide variation
8.
(phonetics) another word for lax (sense 4), open (sense 34)
adverb
9.
over an extensive area: to travel far and wide
10.
to the full extent: he opened the door wide
11.
far from the desired point, mark, etc
noun
12.
(in cricket) a bowled ball that is outside the batsman's reach and scores a run for the batting side
13.
(archaic or poetic) a wide space or extent
14.
to the wide, completely
Derived Forms
widely, adverb
wideness, noun
widish, adjective
Word Origin
Old English wīd; related to Old Norse vīthr, Old High German wīt
Word Origin and History for wide
adj.

Old English wid, from Proto-Germanic *widas (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian wid, Old Norse viðr, Dutch wijd, Old High German wit, German weit), perhaps from PIE *wi-ito-, from root *wi- "apart, away." Wide open "unguarded, exposed to attack" (1915) originally was in boxing, etc. Wide awake (adj.) is first recorded 1818; figurative sense of "alert, knowing" is attested from 1833.

Slang definitions & phrases for wide

wide

Related Terms

high* wide* and handsome


Idioms and Phrases with wide

wide

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