wide

wide
1 /waId/ adjective
1 DISTANCE
a) measuring a large distance from one side to the other: a hat with a wide brim
 —opposite narrow 1 (1)
b) five metres/two miles etc wide measuring five metres etc from one side to the other: The door's three feet wide.
2 VARIETY including or involving a large variety of different people, things, or situations: a man with a wide experience of foreign affairs | wide range/variety/selection etc: We stock a wide range of furnishing materials.
3 IN MANY PLACES (usually before noun) happening among many people or in many places: The Whitewater scandal received wide publicity.
4 wide difference/gap/variation etc a large and noticeable difference: the ever-wider gap between the richest and poorest countries
5 the wider issues/view/context etc the more general features of a situation, rather than the specific details: We also have a wider aim: the restoration of democracy.
6 EYES especially literary wide eyes are fully open, especially when someone is very surprised, excited, or frightened: Her eyes grew wide in anticipation.
7 give sb/sth a wide berth especially BrE to avoid someone or something
8 the big wide world especially spoken places outside the small familiar place where you live: Soon you'll leave school and go out into the big wide world.
9 nationwide/city-wide etc happening or existing all over the nation, city etc: a country-wide problem
—see also: widely, width USAGE NOTE: WIDE WORD CHOICE: wide, broad, big, large, wide-ranging Wide is the most usual word to describe something that measures a long distance from one side to another: a wide road/lake/doorway/entrance/staircase . You also use wide to express how much something measures from side to side: The gap was only a few inches wide. Broad is often used about parts of the body: broad shoulders/hips | a broad nose/forehead Broad often suggests that something is wide in a good or attractive way: a broad sunny avenue running through the middle of the town Sometimes you may need to think whether you really mean wide or broad, or just big or large (=wide in all directions): a wide carpet/field or a large carpet/field Wide-ranging means covering a lot of different subjects or including a lot of different ideas: a wide-ranging review/report/speech 2 adverb 1
a) a door or window that is wide open is open as fully as it can be
b) if someone's eyes or mouth are wide open, they are open as far as possible, especially when they are surprised
c) if a competition, election etc is wide open, it is possible for anyone to succeed: After Milan's win the championship is wide open.
2 opening or spreading as much as possible: The door opened a little wider. | open/spread sth wide: Spiro spread his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. | wide apart: Sandy stood with his back to the fire, legs wide apart.
3 not hitting the point you were aiming at: One of the guards fired at us but the shot went wide.
4 wide awake completely awake
—see also: far and wide far 1 (5), wide of the mark/off the mark mark 2 (11)

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • Wide — (w[imac]d), a. [Compar. {Wider} ( [ e]r); superl. {Widest}.] [OE. wid, wyde, AS. w[=i]d; akin to OFries. & OS. w[=i]d, D. wijd, G. weit, OHG. w[=i]t, Icel. v[=i][eth]r, Sw. & Dan. vid; of uncertain origin.] 1. Having considerable distance or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • wide — [wīd] adj. wider, widest [ME < OE wid, akin to Ger weit < IE * wi itos, lit., gone apart (< bases * wi , apart + * ei , to go) > L vitare, lit., to go away from, avoid] 1. extending over a large area; esp., extending over a larger… …   English World dictionary

  • wide — ► ADJECTIVE (wider, widest) 1) of great or more than average width. 2) (after a measurement and in questions) from side to side. 3) open to the full extent. 4) including a great variety of people or things. 5) spread among a large number or over… …   English terms dictionary

  • Wide — Wide, n. 1. That which is wide; wide space; width; extent. The waste wide of that abyss. Tennyson. [1913 Webster] 2. That which goes wide, or to one side of the mark. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • WIDE-LP — (99.1 FM), known on air as Soul Wide or City Wide , is a non profit low power FM radio station in Madison, Wisconsin. External links*FMQ|WIDE LP *LPL|WIDE *FMARB|WIDE …   Wikipedia

  • wide — rather than widely is used in a number of fixed expressions such as wide apart, wide awake, and wide open, as an element in the word widespread, and in the phrases hit (or shoot) wide and open one s eyes wide …   Modern English usage

  • WIDE — bezeichnet das: WIDE Projekt WIDE Netzwerk Women in Development Europe ist ein Zusammenschluss entwicklungspolitischer NROs in Österreich Wide ist der Familienname von: Edvin Wide (1896–1996), schwedischer Leichtathlet …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • WIDE — may refer to:*WIDE LP, a radio station (99.1 FM) licensed to Madison, Wisconsin, United States *Wide angle Infinity Display Equipment *WIDE Project (Widely Integrated Distributed Environment) *Women in Development Europe …   Wikipedia

  • Wide — Wide, adv. [As. w[imac]de.] 1. To a distance; far; widely; to a great distance or extent; as, his fame was spread wide. [1913 Webster] [I] went wyde in this world, wonders to hear. Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster] 2. So as to leave or have a great… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • wide — O.E. wid, from P.Gmc. *widas (Cf. O.S., O.Fris. wid, O.N. viðr, Du. wijd, O.H.G. wit, Ger. 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 ( …   Etymology dictionary

  • wide — [adj1] expansive, roomy advanced, allinclusive, ample, baggy, broad, capacious, catholic, commodious, comprehensive, deep, dilated, distended, encyclopedic, expanded, extensive, far ranging, far reaching, full, general, immense, inclusive, large …   New thesaurus

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