▪ I. wide, n.
(waɪd)
[absol. use of wide a. (OE. w{iacu}de did not survive.) Cf. ON. v{iacu}dd width, widening, v{iacu}ðir the wide sea, the main, f. v{iacu}ðr wide a.]
† 1. a. Width, breadth. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1646 Couetys, hordan, envie, and pride Has spred þis werld on lenth and wide. Ibid. 1676 A schippe..Seuen score ellen lang and ten, Thrys aght on wyde, on heght fiueten. |
† b. on wide: abroad, all around.
Obs.| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1423 He waytez onwyde, his wenches he byholdes. |
2. † a. The open sea.
b. A wide, extensive, or open space. Now only
poet.| [Cf. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xcii[i]. 4 Fram wæterstefnum widra maniᵹra; Vulg. a vocibus aquarum multarum.] |
| c 1320 Sir Tristr. 1013 Þai seylden in to þe wide. 1833 Tennyson Two Voices xl, The waste wide Of that abyss. |
3. Cricket. [Short for
wide ball,
wide a. 10 a.] A ball bowled wide of the wicket, counting one against the bowler's side.
| 1846 W. Denison Cricket 5 The parties deliver beyond their natural powers; control of the ball is thus lost, and a ‘wide’ is the consequence. 1850 ‘Bat’ Crick. Man. 46 Rule the [scoring] sheet..with three additional [lines] for wides, byes, and no-balls. |
4. to the wide: to the extreme; entirely, utterly. Used in various slang
phrs., as
blind (broke, dead, out, etc.) to the wide;
done to the wide: see
do v. 11 e.
| 1915 G. Frankau Tid'apa iii. 19 ‘Blind, blind to the wide.’ It was shaky, his hand on the dipper-bar, As the water slopped over, gurgling, from its Ali-baba jar. 1920 Wodehouse Jill the Reckless xiv. 208 Here was a girl who seemed to like him although under the impression that he was broke to the wide. a 1936 Kipling Something of Myself (1937) vi. 155, I have seen a Horse Battery ‘dead to the wide’ come in at midnight in raging rain. 1946 Coast to Coast 1945 29 Now yer broke to the wide—I'd rather yer died. 1958 F. C. Avis Boxing Dict. 96 Out to the wide, completely unconscious. 1959 L. Lee Cider with Rosie 90 Wake up, lamb... He's wacked to the wide. Let's try and carry him up. 1963 M. Duggan in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 97 Honest, simple and broke to the wide. |
▪ II. wide, a. (
waɪd)
Forms: 1–4
wid, 4–5 (6
Sc.)
wyd, 4–6
wyde (4
Sc. vyde, 5
wyyd,
wijd, 7
weede), 3–
wide.
Comp. wider (
ˈwaɪdə(r)), also, with shortened vowel, 1
widdra, 4
wydder, 4–6
widder (5
-ir,
-ur); sup.
widest (
ˈwaɪdɪst).
[Com. Teut. (wanting in Gothic): OE. w{iacu}d = OFris., OS. wîd (MLG. wîd, MDu. wijt, Du. wijd, etc.), OHG., MHG. wît (G. weit), ON. v{iacu}ðr (Sw., Da. vid):—OTeut. *widaz; further relations obscure.] I. 1. a. Having great extent (
esp. horizontally); vast, spacious, ample, extensive, roomy.
Obs. exc. as generalized use of sense 5.
| Beowulf 1859 Þenden ic wealde widan rices. a 900 Cynewulf Juliana 9 Wæs his rice brad, wid & weorðlic. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 28 The chambres and the stables weren wyde. Ibid. 491 Wyd was his parisshe and houses fer a sonder. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 15 Cristendom was nyh wydder þan þe empere of Rome. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9481 He woundit þat worthy in his wide þrote. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xxi. 9 It is better to dwell in a corner vnder y⊇ house toppe, then with a braulinge woman in a wyde house. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 137 This wide and vniuersall Theater Presents more wofull Pageants then the Sceane Wherein we play in. 1600 1st Pt. Sir J. Oldcastle v. viii, The wide horrison. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 263 The wide open Places under the Chief Cupuloes of their Buzzars. 1724 Ramsay Vision xvii, A wyde and splendit hall. 1847 J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. viii. 84 At Iona, or Icolm-kill, in the midst of wide waters. 1871 G. Macdonald Wks. Fancy & Imag., Longing iii, O all wide places, far from feverous towns!.. Room! give me room! |
b. as a conventional epithet of words denoting an extensive area,
esp. the earth and the sea (
poet. and
rhet.); as an epithet of
world, in later use sometimes implying contrast to the privacy or security of one's own home or country. Also (
Austral.)
the wide brown land, Australia;
wide open spaces: see
open a. 8 a.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 104 Ac þes wida grund stod deop & dim. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 542 Sume hi wæron..on widdre sæ besencte. c 1200 Ormin 12117 Off all þiss wide middellærd Þe kinedomess alle. c 1205 Lay. 112 Eneas þe duc mid his driht folcke Widen iwalken ȝend þ{supt} wide water. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 60 Ðat was ðe firme morȝen tid, Ðat euere sprong in werld[e] wid. a 1300 Cursor M. 13702 Þair lagh wald man suld hir stan, In to midward þis temple wide. 13.. K. Horn 643 (Harl.) Þe kyng rod on hontynge to þe wode wyde. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. ii. 934 Alle þe world so wyde and brade, Our Lord speciali for man made. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 179 Al the wide worldes fame Spak worschipe of hire goode name. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 2 Within thay fellis wyde. 1535 Coverdale Ps. ciii[i]. 25 Yee the earth is full of thy riches. So is this greate and wyde see also. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 135 As we bee sonnes of the world so wide. 1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence, Hecyra iv. iv, Shall we rather..leaue him to the wide world? 1622 Peacham Compl. Gentl. iv. 35 Turne them out into the wide world with a little money in their purses. 1652 Nedham Selden's Mare Cl. 27 The wide Ocean. 1658 in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 69 The world being wyde she would not venture her conscience upon a disputable point. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ i. i. §3 These were so fully known to him..that he needed not to go to School to the wide world. 1722 De Foe Plague (1756) 141, I shall be turn'd a drift to the wide World. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes vi, The coarse and bloated faces..have counterparts..all the wide world over. 1844 Kinglake Eothen xv, A shout that tore the wide air into tatters. 1847 Buckstone Flowers of Forest iii. vii, No, no—not for the wide wide world. 1863 Kingsley Water-Babies iii, Tom thought nothing about what the river was like. All his fancy was, to get down to the wide wide sea. 1914 D. Mackellar Witch Maid 29 Her beauty and her terror—The wide brown land for me. 1934 J. & G. Mackaness (title) The wide brown land. 1973 Australian 4 May 11 Migrants are staying away in droves from the widest and brownest part of this wide, brown land. |
c. Of a garment or piece of dress: Capacious; large and loose.
Obs. as a specific sense,
exc. dial. in
wide coat, a great-coat, overcoat.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 56 Nu cumeð forð a feble mon, & halt him þauh heihliche, ȝif he haueð enne widne hod & one ilokene cope. c 1386 Chaucer Monk's Prol. 61 Why werestow so wyd a Cope? 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xix. 271 Thenne hadde ich wonder of hus wordes and of hus wide cloþes. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 196 His cloþes were lompurt, and scho wold haue amende hom, but scho myght not, for þay wern so wyde. 1511 Acc. Ld. High. Treas. Scot. IV. 197 To be the King ane wyd doublete fra Maistir Johne of Murray. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 256 And there the snake throwes her enammel'd skinne, Weed wide enough to rap a Fairy in. 1609 J. Davies Humour's Heaven i. iv, Poliphagus a sute of Satten ware, Made wide and side. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Wide-coat, an upper or great coat. |
2. transf. Extending over or affecting a large space or region; far-reaching, extensive. Chiefly
poet.| a 1000 Cædmon's Satan 189 Þæs ðe ic ᵹeþohte adrifan drihten of selde,..sceal [ic] nu wreclastas settan sorhᵹceariᵹ siðas wide. a 1300 Cursor M. 24991 He es tald alsua o sight sa wide, Þat fra his sight mai naman hide. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. ix. 23 They [sc. the winds]..tosse the deepes, and teare the firmament, And all the world confound with wide vprore. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 660 He [sc. a snake] rages in the Fields, and wide Destruction threats. 1818 Keats Endym. ii. 307 O woodland Queen,..Where dost thou listen to the wide halloos Of thy disparted nymphs? 1841 James Corse de Leon i, A turn where they could obtaine a wider view. 1859 Hawthorne Marble Faun xxxiii, After wide wanderings through the valley [etc.]. |
b. Coal-mining. (See
quot. 1883, and
cf. wide adv. 1 c.)
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, Wide Work. A South Yorkshire system (now nearly obsolete) of working coal. Sets of short stalls or banks, 7 or 8 yards in width, forming a line of faces about 60 yards, were carried to the rise, about 3 or 4 feet of coal being left between each bank, the main road pillars being subsequently extracted. 1904 Times 23 May 7/6 Men engaged on ‘wide’ work were paid yardage to which they were not entitled. |
† 3. Great (in various non-physical senses).
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 2200 Þis nembrot wit his mikel pride Wend to wyrk wondres wide. Ibid. 20030 For ai þe mar i soght to sai, Þe widder suld i find þe wai. Ibid. 23104 Wreches stad in wa ful wide. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 403 Now by-gynneþ..my grace to growe ay wydder and wydder. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 1970 For wella wide ware þe wele,..Bathe þi glorie & þi grace, þi gladnes in erthe, Miȝt þou þe marches of Messedoyne mayntene þi-selfe. c 1560 A. Scott Poems xxxvi. 62 Lowse thow my lippis, that tyme and tyd I may gif to the lovingis wyd. |
4. fig. Having a large range; comprising, affecting, applying or relating to a great number or variety of persons, cases, subjects, points, etc.; extensive, largely inclusive; (of a word or term) having a large extent of meaning:
= broad a. 10.
Common since 1800.
| 1534 Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. D 4, Therfore ryseth the large and wyde prayse by rhetoriciens of Marathon [orig. Hinc rhetorum campus de Marathone]. a 1600 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xliii. 35 So wyd thy word does waxe That the immortall maks. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. ii. 77 These perpetual exploits abroad won him wide fame. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia iii. iv, I fear the misfortunes of Mr. Belfield have spread a ruin wider than his own. 1797 Malone Sir J. Reynolds' Wks. I. p. xxxv, In the historical department [of pictures], he took a wider range. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 106 There is yet a wide field for useful experiment. 1843 Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. i. i. ii, I want a definition of art wide enough to include all its varieties of aim. 1856 Miss Mulock John Halifax xxxvi, The boy—to whose destination we had no clue but the wide word, America. 1858 Mrs. Paul Uncle Ralph xxii, ‘Never is a wide word, Miriam,’ said Ailie. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. i. 13 note, His wide knowledge of ethnography. 1868 Nettleship Ess. Browning i. 54 How to use each his own and his mistresses' attributes for the widest good. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. 2 The ideas of the wider public. 1895 Bookman Oct. 15/1 [His] wide experience as a teacher..and an inspector of schools. |
b. Of views or opinions, or
transf. of the person holding them:
= broad a. 11.
| 1824 Macaulay Athen. Orators ¶22 States have always been best governed by men who have taken a wide view of public affairs. 1833 Tennyson Two Voices xlii, When, wide in soul and bold of tongue, Among the tents I paused and sung. 1884 Spectator 19 Apr. 513/2 Both the High Churchman and the Wide Churchman. Ibid., The Wide Church or High-Church circles. |
† c. Vague.
Obs. rare.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 288 Though his Verses are most Elegant,..yet the description is very wide. |
II. 5. a. Having great extent from side to side; large across, or in transverse measurement. (Opp. to
narrow.)
Now distinguished from
broad in so far as it tends to be restricted to applications in which actual mensuration from point to point is possible or contemplated, and in which there is no implication of superficial extent; hence in certain technical uses (see
quots.).
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. vii. 13 Þæt ᵹeat is swyþe wid, & se weᵹ is swiþe rum, þe to forspillednesse ᵹelæt. 11.. in Birch Cartul. (1887) II. 207 Ðonon to widan ᵹeate; ðonon to eadulfes mære. a 1300 Cursor M. 1682 Þu sal..Mak a dor wit mesur wide. Ibid. 8081 Þair muthes wide, þair eien brade, Vn-freli was þair face made. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 23 Till sum gaiff thai woundis wid. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iv. (Jacobus) 302 On a bryge, as þai can ryd Our a wattyr, depe and wyd. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 289 Euery sercle causynge othir Wydder than hym self was. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 526/1 Wyyd, large yn brede. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 22 Christis woundis wyde. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 76 Shallow Brooks, and Rivers wide. 1642 Tasman Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1694) 135 Those Men when they walked made very wide paces. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 467 Wide was the wound, But suddenly with flesh fill'd up & heal'd. 1725 Pope Odyss. i. 173 A purple carpet spread the pavement wide. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 256/2 One of the great recommendations of a wide gauge. 1868 Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 416 Making experiments in the cultivation of wheat in wide drilling and thin seeding. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Wide Spade (Whaling), used to cut the blubber in the rough, before mincing. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Voc., Wide measures, long and wide measures of type, distinct from narrow or short ones. |
b. transf. of the lateral boundaries: Having a wide space between, far apart. (
Cf. 7 and 8.)
| 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop i, It runs between green banks which grow wider and wider until at last it joins the broad vast sea. |
c. As the final element in comb. with
ns. which denote regions, organizations, etc., as world-wide, and
country-wide,
nation-wide,
state-wide (see at first element), in the sense ‘as wide as the―’ or ‘extending throughout the whole―’.
6. Having a specified or particular transverse measurement indicated by a numerical quantity or by a comparison; (so much) across.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 127 Hwene widdre þonne bydenfæt. a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 1307 Fær ᵹewyrc fiftiᵹes wid, ðrittiᵹes heah, þreohund lang elnᵹemeta. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 565 Ðat arche was..l.ti elne wid, and .xxx.ti heȝ. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7503 Graunte me..Namore lond, wyd ne syd, Þan y may sprede a boles hyd. c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxxvi. 84 A traylyng gowne of twelue yerdes wyde. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 1324 Þurȝe þaim he rynnes, And makis a wai wyde enoȝe waynes to mete. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. xi. 347 That these schoon be notabli widdir than the meetenes of hem wolde aske. Ibid., These schoon to be no wijdir than euen meete to hise sones feet. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 210 Had his wesand bene a little widder, He would haue deuoured both hidder and shidder. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. i. 100 'Tis not so deepe as a well, nor so wide as a Church doore. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 11 A Bed-chamber..Thirty foot wide. Ibid. 19 Windowes..must be higher then wide. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 637 Take half-inch and two-inch wide rods or laths. 1918 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Mar. 152/1 The island is small..and at its widest part about a mile and a half in width. |
7. a. (
a) Opened widely, expanded; of the arms, stretched widely apart. Now superseded in general use by
wide open (see
wide adv. 3).
| 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 335 Ȝit tuk I neuir the wosp clene out of my wyde throte. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 449 b, That a wyder entrie be not set open to y⊇ Turkes to inuade us. 1607 Puritan i. iv. 96 Speake lowe, George; Prison Rattes haue wider eares then those in Malt-lofts. 1611 Bible Isa. lvii. 4 Against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? 1667 Milton P.L. i. 762 All access was throng'd, the Gates And Porches wide. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 431 The Mares..with wide Nostrils snuff the Western Air. 1707 E. Smith Phædra & Hipp. i. 1 She from his wide, deceiv'd, desiring Arms Flew tastless. 1820 Keats St. Agnes iv, Many a door was wide. 1822 Galt Provost xxxvi. With wide and wild arms, like a witch in a whirlwind. 1867 Morris Jason xv. 839 The three..gazed at him with wide eyes wondering. |
(
b)
superl. as
quasi-n. in
phr. at widest.
| 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. i. 63 Though euery drop of water sweare against it, And gape at widst to glut him. |
b. Phonetics. Of a vowel-sound: Pronounced with the tongue relaxed, or with a wider opening between it and some other part of the mouth than the corresponding
narrow vowel.
| 1867 A. M. Bell Visible Speech 72 The vowels—whether ‘Primary’, ‘Wide’, or ‘Rounded’—are divided into three classes of palato-lingual formations. 1890 [see narrow a. 1 d]. |
III. 8. Extending far between limits; existing between two things which are far apart, literally or figuratively, as a distance or interval, a distinction or difference.
to give a wide berth to: see
berth n. 1.
| 1589 Puttenham Engl. Poesie ii. ix. (Arb.) 96 Bycause your concordes containe the chief part of Musicke in your meetre, their distaunces may not be too wide or farre a sunder. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 194 The wide difference 'Twixt Amorous, and Villanous. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Epist. ii. ii. 293 The wide Distinction..Between an open, hospitable Man, And Prodigal; the Frugalist secure, And Miser, pinch'd with Penury. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. (1862) i. §2. 49 The wider is the interval between the respective places in the series. 1865 Ruskin Sesame ii. §75 There is a wide difference between elementary knowledge and superficial knowledge. 1912 Daily Tel. 19 Dec. 2/3 Among foreign railways,..after some wide fluctuations San Paulo finished at a substantial improvement. |
† 9. a. Situated a great way off, distant, far; in
quot. 1590, held at a distance, not close. Also, situated at a specified distance (
const. of = from).
Obs. Only predicative, or following the
n.; thus nearly approaching
wide adv. 5.
| ? a 1400 Arthur 552 [He] strenghthed hym on eche syde Wyth Men of contreys ferre & wyde. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cii[i]. 12 Look how wyde the east is from the west, so farre hath he set oure synnes from vs. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. viii. 36 His poinant speare he thrust..At proud Cymochles, whiles his shield was wyde. 1597 J. Dee Diary (Camden) 59 Calcot in Chesshyre, abowt six myles wide of Chester. 1682 O. Heywood Diaries (1885) IV. 76 A place..4 miles wide of St. Albans. 1729 Swift Hist. 2nd Solomon Wks. 1841 II. 320 He was to set out..to another part of the kingdom, thirty miles wide of the place appointed. 1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. xxxvi, Shortstubble put him on a line as wide of his own wheat as he could. |
b. fig. Far, far apart (in nature, character, views, statements, etc.); not in accordance, disagreeing, different; foreign, alien; far
from (doing something). Const.
from,
of. (Often approaching or coinciding with 10 b.) Now
rare.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. Pref. **v b, Valerius Maximus and Plinius, in the reportyng of a certain alter[c]acion y{supt} was betwene Cn. Domitius & Lucius Crassus.., how wyde been thei the one from the other. ? 1545 Brinklow Compl. 11 What a cruell lawe is this! how farre wyde from the Gospel, yea from the lawe of nature also. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. (1577) G iij b, It seemeth a matter very wide from reason. 1566 W. P. tr. Curio's Pasquine in Traunce 9 b, The which things..were al farre wide..from that true & most pure virgin the Lords mother. 1600 Marston, etc. Jack Drum's Entert. i. (1601) C 3 b, Those that are farre more yong and wittie, Are wide from singing such a Dittie. 1630 Hakewill Apol. (ed. 2) Advts. Zz 2 b, How farre wide the foure most noted doctours of the Westerne Church.. were in the exposition of many passages of holy Scripture. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 7 Nov. 1691, The relation he gave..was very wide from what we fancied. 1754 Hume Hist. Eng. I. Chas. I iii. 199 That rustic contempt of the fair sex, which James affected..was very wide of the disposition of this monarch. 1807 Bentham Mem. & Corr. Wks. 1843 X. 423 My own notions..were too wide of the notions prevalent among lawyers. 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. viii. 136 Hence befals That Esau is so wide of Jacob. 1871 Earle Philol. Engl. Tongue 244 Languages whose development has been wide of ours, as the Hebrew. |
c. Situated far apart in a series:
spec. in
Cards (see
quot.).
| 1897 R. F. Foster Complete Hoyle 414 Cards which are likely to form parts of sequences are called close cards, and those which are too widely separated to do so are called wide cards. |
10. Deviating from the aim, or from the direct or proper course; missing the mark or the way; going astray. Also
const. of (
† from). (Most commonly predicative, approaching or coinciding with
wide adv. 6.)
a. lit.;
spec. in
Cricket, of a ball bowled too far aside from the wicket for the batsman to strike it (now usually
ellipt.: see
wide n. 3).
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. i. 135 Wide a' th bow hand, yfaith your hand is out. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 70 If the Shot be both wide and too low. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Wide, when the Biass of the Bowl holds not enough. 1851 Lillywhite Guide Crick. 13 The Umpire must take especial care to call..‘Wide Ball’ as soon as it shall pass the Striker. 1853 ‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. xi, The first ball was ‘wide’. 1854 Lever Sir Jasper Carew xl, His guards were all wide, and his eyes unsteady. |
b. fig. (
a) without
prep. (now
rare): in early use often
= Astray in opinion or belief, mistaken (now expressed by the full
phr. wide of the mark). In
quot. 1605,
perh. Wandering in mind, delirious.
| 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer i. (1577) E v b, Whoso heareth him, may.. thinke y{supt} he also with very little a do, might attaine to y{supt} perfection, but when he commeth to y{supt} proofe, shall finde himselfe farre wide. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 140/2 Let vs see if this be well practised, alas, the matter is farre wide [orig. Helas il s'en faut beaucoup]. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. xi, Tis neither as you thinke, nor as you thinke, Nor as you thinke; you'r wide all. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vii. 50 Lear. You are a spirit I know, when did you dye? Cor. Still, still, farre wide. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 107 To them that are wide, and strangers to the true light. 1632 Massinger Maid Hon. ii. ii, You are wide, the whole field wide. I in my understanding Pitty your ignorance. a 1652 Brome City Wit v. i, Py. I know your purpose..; you come after the Marriage to forbid the banes... Lin. Good Mrs. Sneakup, you are wide. I come to wish joy to the match. 1687 Settle Refl. Dryden 83 He was a little wide there. |
(
b) Const.
from (now rare or
obs.),
of:
esp. in
phr. wide of the mark.
Sometimes scarcely distinguishable from 9 b.
| 1566 W. P. tr. Curio's Pasquine in Traunce 34 b, They are so farre wyde from the institution of Christ, & from the truth. 1587 Mirr. Mag., Stater i, Of wit and of reason recklesse and wide, That tooke so vppon vs to rule all the land. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 115 Though I should talke of halfe as manie more, I should not be farre wide of the truth. 1646 Sir. T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. vii. 28 How wide he is from truth. 1672 W. Walker Parœm. 29 You are quite out of the way; wide of the mark; clearly mistaken;..Tota erras via. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1321 He is wide of the cushion; errat longè. 1711 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 112 A lasting happiness, of which they are wide..thro' want of religion. 1735 Berkeley Def. Free-thinking §46 Your Comment must be wide of the Author's meaning. 1747 Mem. Nutrebian Crt. II. 25 Sentiments..you think so wide from the duty I should..pay. 1813 T. Busby Lucretius II. iv. Comm. p. xv, In his solar images he is not quite so wide from the fact. 1836 G. S. Faber Prim. Doctr. Election ii. vi. (1842) 339 Most wide, then, from the mark..is the modern Calvinist. 1846 Dickens Cricket on Hearth iii, You had best not interrupt me..till you understand me; and you're wide of doing so. 1848 ― Dombey xl, These questions..are all wide of the purpose. 1892 Sat. Rev. 15 Oct. 442/2 This belief of the French critic is not so very wide of the mark. |
† c. Amiss.
Obs. rare.
| 1614 Bp. Hall Contempl., Aaron & Miriam, It were wide for vs, if our suites should be euer heard. Ibid., Rahab, It would bee wide with the best of vs, if the eye of God should looke backward to our former estate. |
11. a. Going beyond bounds of restraint, propriety, or virtue;
† unrestrained, violent (
obs.); lax, loose, immoral (now
colloq. or
slang).
Cf. broad a. 6, 8.)
| 1574 Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 395 The Courteour, with wordis wyde, Said ‘I hear nathing bot prouyde, And get now that, and get now this.’ 1656 G. Collier Answ. 15 Quest. Pref., Any man that hath not a weak head and a wide conscience. 1902 Wister Virginian xiii, Wide females in pink. 1904 Daily Chron. 29 Nov. 3/4 Madrid was full of ‘wide’ characters. |
b. Going beyond bounds of moderation; excessive, immoderate. (
Cf. slang
tall,
steep.)
| 1858 Greener Gunnery Advts. 2 Producing..guns equal, if not superior, to anything yet produced by any maker whatever. This may be considered a wide assertion, but to prove he does not make it rashly he is prepared to test the fact by a competiton with any maker. 1895 Daily News 3 Sept. 7/5 Prices asked are very wide, and are beyond the values that merchants are disposed to give. |
c. slang. Wide-awake, cute; shrewd, sharp-witted; (dishonestly) cunning or knowledgeable; skilled in sharp practice; engaging in shady dealings. See also
wide boy, sense 12 c below.
| 1879 Macmillan's Mag. Oct. 502/1, I got in company with some of the widest (cleverest) people in London. 1891 Daily News 24 Feb. 2/1 Well, she was tipsy; but she was very ‘wide’. 1928 E. Wallace Gunner xxviii. 226 You can handle these swells, Danty, and you're wide enough to keep yourself out of trouble. 1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad i. 13 Underworld men and women..refer to themselves as ‘wide people’ or ‘one of us’. They're a colourful, rascally lot these ‘wide 'uns’. 1956 T. Huddleston Naught for your Comfort ii. 28 He must become a ‘tsotsi’, a cosh-boy, a wide-guy—because at least there's excitement that way, while it lasts. 1981 Event 16 Oct. 101/3 They've never struck me as a bunch of wide-persons. |
IV. 12. Comb. a. Parasynthetic, forming
adjs. in
-ed2 (unlimited in number), as
wide-arched,
wide-armed,
wide-banked,
wide-beaked,
wide-bellied,
wide-branched,
wide-brimmed,
wide-chapped (
† wide chopt),
wide-handed,
wide-hearted,
wide-jointed,
wide-lapped,
wide-legged,
wide-lipped,
wide-margined,
wide-minded,
wide-necked,
wide-realmed,
wide-shouldered,
wide-skirted,
wide-sleeved,
wide-spaced,
wide-spanned,
wide-streeted,
wide-throated,
wide-waked,
wide-wayed,
wide-windowed, etc.
b. Rarely with simple
ns., forming
adjs. in sense ‘having, involving, pertaining or relating to a (or the) wide ―’, as
wide-head,
wide-row,
wide-world.
c. Special
Combs.:
wide-angle a., applied to a lens of short focus, the field of which extends through a wide angle, used for photographing at short range; also in extended use and as
n.;
wide-aperture a., applied to (an instrument having) an objective lens of large diameter;
wide-band a., capable of transmitting or handling signals in a wide frequency band;
wide-bodied a., of a large jet aeroplane: having a wide fuselage (
cf. jumbo 1 b); also
wide-body (
usu. attrib.);
wide boy slang, one who lives by his wits, often dishonestly; one who engages in petty-criminal activities, a ‘spiv’;
cf. sense 11 c;
wide-cut a. Oil Industry, involving or produced by fractional distillation over a wide temperature range, or the fraction so obtained (see
quots. 1958, 1966);
wide-eared a., having wide ears; also in sense 7, having the ears wide open, listening intently;
wide-eyed a., having wide eyes; usually in sense 7, having the eyes wide open, gazing intently; also
fig.;
wide-gab, local
Sc. name for the fishing-frog or frog-fish;
wide gauge Railways = broad gauge;
wide-leafed,
-leaved a., having a wide leaf or leaves;
transf. of a hat, broad-brimmed;
wide-meshed a., of a net: having wide meshes or interstices; (in
quots.,
fig. of a survey);
wide receiver Amer. Football, a pass receiver who stands several yards to the side of an offensive formation;
cf. flanker n.1 3 d,
receiver1 1 c (
a);
wide-scale a., that occurs on a wide scale; extensive;
cf. large-scale adj. s.v. large a. 15 c;
wide screen, a cinema screen which presents a wide field of vision in proportion to its height (see
quot. 1957);
freq. attrib.;
† wide-side a. [
side a.
1], wide and long, capacious;
wide-spectrum a., (
a)
fig., effective against a wide range of organisms;
= broad-spectrum s.v. broad a. D. 2; (
b)
lit., characterized by light of a wide range of wavelengths;
wide-wale a., of fabrics,
esp. corduroy: broad-ribbed;
wide-winged a., having wide wings; flying through a wide space or region (chiefly
poet.). See also
wide-mouthed, -watered.
| 1878 Abney Photogr. (1881) 204 The next lens..is what is known as a ‘*wide angle’ doublet, in which the separation between the lenses is very small, and their foci considerably shorter... Some of these combinations are made so as to cover a circle whose diameter subtends an angle of 90° from the optical centre. 1897 C. M. Hepworth Animated Photogr. xiii. 97 The use of a wide-angle lens..is..abominable in connection with the production of a living photograph. 1947 H. Lewis Photogr. Today 53 On analysing my shots..I usually find that 70 per cent. have been taken with a 5 cm. lens, 2 per cent. with a long-focus lens, and the rest with a 3.5 cm. wide-angle lens. 1955 Mademoiselle Mar. 113 Oklahoma! is made in ‘fabulous new Todd-ao wide-angle, large-screen process’. 1965 C. Forsyte Double Death iii. 22 He kept most of his attention on the special wide-angle driving mirror that raked the traffic on his tail. 1974 J. Irving 158-Pound Marriage i. 11 Forget the wide-angle. (I see Edith and Severin Winter only in close-ups.) 1983 Which? Sept. 388/3 A zoom lens lets you move in from a wide-angle view to a closer shot. |
| 1958 Amateur Photographer 31 Dec. 914/2 For colour work a *wide-aperture lens is invaluable. 1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. i. 57 With a wide-aperture telescope..there is no loss of brightness on magnification. |
| 1820 Keats Lamia ii. 121 The glowing banquet-room shone with *wide-arched grace. |
| 1869 J. R. Lowell Poet. Works (1912) 415 The friend of all the winds, *wide-armed he towers. 1898 G. Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 27 With view of wide-armed heaven. |
| 1935 Wireless Engineer XII. 251/1 A means of examining the behaviour of *wide-band amplifiers when supplied with transient input waves. 1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset iv. 42 Although this ideal is not fully realised the fact remains that very acceptable results can be obtained using either wide-band (trichromatic) or narrow-cut filters. 1982 Economist 6 Mar. 25/2 The government wants Britain's cities to be cabled quickly with wideband cable. |
| 1903 Kipling Five Nations 73 Beside *wide-banked Ouse. |
| 1807 J. Barlow Columbiad iii. 131 The *wide-beak'd hawk, that now beholds me die, soon with his cowering train my flesh shall tear. 1921 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 30 An enormously wide-beaked mouth. |
| 1921 W. de la Mare Veil 6 Dipped the *wide-bellied boat. 1980 Jrnl. R. Soc. Med. LXXIII. 7 A wide-bellied, ungainly but functional ambulance. |
| 1970 Times 4 Sept. (Aviation Suppl.) p. i/4 About {pstlg}200m. is being requested to get the proposed BAC 3-11 *wide-bodied, 250-seater subsonic airliner off the ground. 1983 Times 12 Feb. 20/8 Western airlines..were not allowed to fly wide-bodied jets such as the Airbus into Moscow until the Russians had developed their own Il 86. |
| 1968 Flight Internat. 14 Nov. 777/1 BAC foresees a demand for standards matching the high-capacity *wide-body aircraft of the long-haul routes on short/medium-haul routes. 1979 T. Gifford Hollywood Gothic (1980) xxx. 308 The wide-bodies slid down..into the bustle of Los Angeles International Airport. 1983 Listener 9 June 6/2 Only two companies are now producing wide-body airliners. |
| 1937 R. Westerby Wide Boys never Work 232 Jim was turning, or had already turned, into a Smart Aleck, a *Wide Boy, a despiser of the Mugs who worked. 1947 People 22 June 5/3 It seems the wide boys are trying to muscle in and buy these dogs to put against one another in private fights. 1952 ‘J. Tey’ Singing Sands iv. 57 He was a wide boy. Wide boys don't want trouble. 1960 V. Gielgud To Bed at Noon iii. i. 159 Blackmailed—for the murder? Not even the widest of the local wide-boys could have got on to it. 1976 J. O'Connor Eleventh Commandment iii. 38 All the wide boys thought I had gone mad when they saw me in khaki. |
| 1819 Scott Ivanhoe i, Short-stemmed, *wide-branched oaks. |
| 1918 J. W. Gerard Face to face with Kaiserism xv. 180 An actress who wore a *wide-brimmed hat. |
| 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. i. 60 This *wide-chopt-rascall. |
| 1958 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 1027/2 *Wide-cut fuel.., low octane petrol (gasoline) obtained from wide-cut distillation used in turbojets in order to conserve kerosene. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. X. 54/2 Petroleum is separated by distillation into fractions designated as (1) straight-run gasoline..; (2) middle distillate..; (3) wide-cut gas oil, which boils at about 345–540°C,..and (4) residual oil. 1982 Fuelling Aviation (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co. Ltd.) 5/2 The military wide-cut fuel is called JP-4 and this is the major fuel for the airforces of the world. |
| 1684 Lond. Gaz. No. 1976/4 A black Coach Mare.., a little *wide Eared. 1865 Kingsley Herew. iv, The boys listened, wide-eyed and wide-eared. |
| 1788 Cowper Gratitude 11 This wheel⁓footed studying chair,..*Wide-elbow'd, and wadded with hair. |
| 1853 Tennyson in Ld. T. Mem. (1897) I. 369 The *wide-eyed wonder of a babe has a grandeur in it. 1855 Kingsley Heroes, Argon. i. 80 The boy listened wide-eyed. 1894 Forum (N.Y.) Feb. 717 Madison's..wide-eyed prudence in counsel. 1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 109 The human soul is fated to wide-eyed responsibility In life. 1983 L. Deighton Berlin Game ix. 95 You ask him all those wide-eyed innocent questions about making profits from cheap labour. |
| 1808 Neill in Mem. Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. (1811) I. 548 L[ophius] piscatorius... Frog-fish... In the North Isles of Scotland, it is..termed the *Wide-gab, the mouth being hideously large. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 269 The Fishing Frog. Angler. Sea Devil. Wide Gab. Scotland. |
| 1841 *Wide gauge [see wide a. 5 a]. 1982 S. G. Duff Parting of Ways iv. 43 We all boarded the train for Moscow, changing onto the wide-gauge railway at the Soviet frontier. |
| 1600 Breton Pasquil's Foole's-cappe Wks. (Grosart) I. 20/2 In the aime of Wisdomes eye, *Wide handed Wits will euer shoote awry. |
| 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 371 The *wide-head oaks. |
| 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! viii, The old Anglo-Norman teachableness and *wide-heartedness. 1917 Blackw. Mag. Nov. 677/1 Ladies..narrow in their interests,..but wide-hearted. |
| 1874 J. H. Parker Introd. Gothic Archit. i. i. (ed. 4) 11 *Wide-jointed masonry is a usual characteristic of the eleventh century in England and Normandy. |
| 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1527/4 Open *wide-kneed Breeches. |
| 1856 J. G. Whittier Poet. Works (1898) 353/1 Pacific rolls his waves a-land, From many a *wide-lapped port and land-locked bay. 1928 Blunden Japanese Garland 19 Fine fields, wide-lapped, whose loveliest-born Day's first bright cohort finds. |
| 1779 P. Freneau House of Night in U.S. Mag. Aug. 356 A *wide-leaf'd table stood on either side. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. vi. vii. (1866) 894 He wore a wide-leaved..hat of dark felt. 1894 S. Weyman Man in Black ix, A dark, sallow man,..with a wide-leafed hat. |
| 1938 R. Graves Coll. Poems 28 The *wide-legged robin with his breast aglow. |
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxviii, Those *wide-lipped crystal vessels..in which chemists..measure out their liquid drugs. |
| 1889 O. Wilde in Fortn. Rev. Jan. 43 Book-bindings, and early editions, and *wide-margined proofs. |
| 1938 Dialect Notes VI. 626 Professor A. H. Marckwardt..has begun a *wide-meshed survey of the Great Lakes region and the Ohio River valley. 1980 English World-Wide I. i. 28 Unfortunately..his survey is even more wide-meshed than Orton's. |
| 1883 A. Barratt's Phys. Metemp. Pref. p. xx, In politics his sympathies were liberal and *wide-minded. 1914 Tollinton Clement of Alex. II. xx. 273 Wide-minded teachers, who have the power to discern affinities and to greet the ally in disguise. |
| 1880 J. Dunbar Pract. Papermaker 69 A *wide-necked glass-stoppered bottle. |
| 1725 Pope Odyss. xiii. 506 At his side a wretched scrip was hung, *Wide-patch'd, and knotted to a twisted thong. |
| 1838 Mrs. Browning An Island ix, *Wide-petalled plants. |
| 1968 Redskins 17 Nov. 77/3 Depth at *wide receiver is strong, too, in rookie Dennis Homan. 1981 Washington Post 8 Apr. d 1 We will have to take the best athlete available... That could be an offensive lineman, a running back or a wide receiver. |
| 1821 Cobbett Rur. Rides 9 Nov. (1885) I. 28 The advantages of the *wide-row culture. |
| 1958 G. Lienhardt in Middleton & Tait Tribes without Rulers 108 There was little *wide-scale co-operation against the common enemies. 1980 Daily Tel. 26 May 6/7 By confining the emergency arrangements as far as possible to the Bristol line, BR has avoided widescale timetable changes. |
| 1931 Ann. Reg. 1930 ii. 48 The *Wide Screen is still only a matter for experiment, as standardisation has not yet been achieved. 1932 Ibid. 1931 47 The ‘Wide Screen’ invention, though perfected, was not offered to the public by the big producing concerns, seeing that it would involve the studios in huge expenditure. 1953 Manch. Guardian 13 Aug. 4/7 Hollywood..had decided to coast for the present on a compromise between 3-D and Cinemascope—namely on the less spectacular development known as Wide Screen. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XV. 862/1 Basically ‘wide screen’ means any departure from the screen proportions fixed by Edison and his contemporaries at 4 to 3 (or 1·33 to 1); i.e., three units high for every four wide... If the aspect ratio were to be changed there was only one practical way—screens would have to be wider. 1967 H. Harrison Technicolor Time Machine (1968) iii. 27 An accurate, full-length, wide-screen, realistic, low-budget, high-quality historical. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 16 Oct., Imagine, right before your eyes on the wide screen, the stern of the Titanic..comes shooting out of the water as if the projector had been reversed. |
| 1935 Kipling Two Forewords 19 But thou, O Nakhoda, art young and *wide-shouldered. 1973 T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 127 A few women in clinking boots and wide-shouldered swagger coats, but no children. |
| 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. ii. Magnificence 266 Glory..Her *wide-side Robes..All Story-wrought with bloudy Victories. |
| 1605 Shakes. Lear i. i. 66 Champains rich'd With plenteous Riuers, and *wide-skirted Meades. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxvii, The coat was wide-skirted. |
| c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon xi. 129 A *wide sleeued gowne. 1926 D. H. Lawrence David viii. 63 Takes off striped coat, or wide-sleeved tunic. 1980 Catal. Fine Chinese Ceramics (Sotheby, Hong Kong) 214 A Jade Carving of a lady wearing a wide-sleeved robe. |
| 1665 R. Brathwait Comm. Two Tales (1901) 62 She was gap-tooth'd, or *wide-spaced. 1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 30 Aug. 3/2 Wide-spaced houses, beautiful gardens. |
| a 1878 Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) I. 65 *Wide-spanned arches. |
| 1959 S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. Eye (ed. 13) xv. 175 One of the *wide-spectrum antibiotic drugs such as the tetracyclines. 1972 Country Life 25 May 1351/1 The farmer uses..a wide-spectrum weedkiller, which is a mixture of chemicals designed to control a whole range of weeds. 1977 J. L. Harper Population Biol. Plants x. 321 They inserted wide-spectrum fluorescent tubes between the rows of a close canopied crop of soyabeans. 1982 Sci. Amer. Mar. 98 Snakes of two families can detect and localize sources of infrared radiation. Infrared and visible-light information are integrated in the brain to yield a unique wide-spectrum picture of the world. |
| 1868 M. Collins Sweet Anne Page III. 187 *Wide-streeted Troy. |
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Papado, *wide throated. a 1627 Middleton Mayor of Quinb. i. i, Will that wide-throated Beast, the multitude, Never leave bellowing? 1791 Cowper Iliad x. 8 Wide-throated war calamitous. |
| 1856 J. G. Whittier Poet. Works (1898) 52/2 With steeds of fire and steam, *Wide waked Today leaves Yesterday behind him like a dream. |
| 1957 M. R. Picken Fashion Dict. 374/2 *Wide-wale serge, serge with broad diagonal weave. 1980 L. Birnbach et al. Official Preppy Handbk. 98 Wide wale corduroy pants. |
| 1848 Buckley Iliad 23 The *wide-wayed city of the Trojans. |
| 1869 J. R. Lowell Poet. Works (1917) A life *wide-windowed, shining all abroad, Or curtains drawn to shield from sight profane. 1970 Daily Tel. 30 Apr. 17 A wide-windowed bar parlour. |
| 1818 Shelley Hom. Moon 3 Muses..Sing the *wide-winged Moon! 1848 Bailey Festus (ed. 3) 250 The wide-winged wind. 1871 Tennyson Last Tourn. 423 The wide-wing'd sunset of the misty marsh. 1884 J. G. Wood in Sunday Mag. May 307/2 Wide-winged as they are, the Locusts are very feeble in the air. |
| 1851 Ruskin Stones Ven. I. App. xv. 385 He [sc. Rubens] has neither cloister breeding nor boudoir breeding,..but he has an open sky and *wide-world breeding in him. |
Add:
[IV.] [12.] [c.] wide area network Computing, a communications network similar to a
local area network (
s.v. *
local a. 2 d) but having longer communications links, typically between buildings or different sites.
| 1983 Financial Times 11 Apr. iii. p. xix/1 Eventually, local area networks will be expected to spread over much larger areas.., with many miles..separating computer users. In computer jargon, networks that become *wide area networks, or WAN's. 1988 Computer Weekly 1 Sept. 10/3 DEC to DEC links across a wide area network will use the Microserver with new Dec-router software. |
wideout Amer. Football = wide receiver.
| 1978 Washington Post 28 Nov. b6/5, I was looking forward to it, because we had switched to two *wideouts on offense and I just didn't have the speed for that. 1987 Gridiron Pro! No. 5. 18/1 Wideout Jerry Rice sparkled with six passes for 154 yards, including one for a 66-yard TD. |
▸
wide game n. (a) (
esp. in the Scout movement) any outdoor game played over a wide area and involving a large number of participants;
(b) Sport (chiefly
Rugby Football), a style of play that makes use of the full width of a pitch.
| 1938 Iowa Recorder 23 Nov. 6/1 The afternoon was spent in pacing and mapping practice, ‘*wide game’ period, proper use of knife, hatchet, cooking aids and types of fires. 1985 Times 25 Nov. 25/3 Scottish controlled the match by winning most of the loose ball, and they played the wide game, knowing the risks were minimal against this raw opposition. 1999 Scouting Mag. Nov. 15/1 Even such things as camp fires, wide games and community projects are very difficult [in Saudi Arabia]. 2004 Mirror (Nexis) (Sc. ed.) 24 Aug. 58 Player boss Souness controversially decided to chop four yards off either touchline in a bid to stop Kiev..playing their wide game. |
▪ III. wide, adv. Forms: 1–
wide, (3
weide), 3–4
wid, 4–6
wyde, (4
Sc. vyde), 5 (6
Sc.)
wyd.
[OE. w{iacu}de = OS. wîdo (MLG., MDu. wîde, Du. wijd), OHG. wîto (MHG. wîte, wît, G. weit), ON. v{iacu}ða (Sw., Norw. vida): advb. f. OE. w{iacu}d, etc. wide a.] = widely, in various senses.
In modern texts
freq. illogically hyphened to a
pple. 1. a. Over or through a large space or region; so as to reach or affect many or various places or persons; far abroad. Chiefly
poet. (superseded in prose by
far and wide: see b).
| Beowulf 1403 Lastas wæron æfter waldswaþum wide ᵹesyne. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 7 Mann-cwealmas beoð & hungras wide ᵹeond land. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 87 He wandrede wide, weruende longe, sechende him oðer stede. c 1205 Lay. 25662 Þet lond he weste wide. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 921 We beþ men wide idriue aboute Fram contreie to contreie. 13.. K. Alis. 7118 (Laud MS.), His Marshal Tholomeu Þat many Prince wyde kneu. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 98, I wiste neuere..Man þat with hym spake, as wyde as I haue passed! 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 399 He..sprad þe endes of his kyngdom wydder þan dede his fader. c 1400 Parce Michi 183 in 26 Pol. Poems 148 In salt see I sayled well wyde. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 45/16 Quhair ance it fixis the rute it spredis the selfe sa braid and wyde, that [etc.]. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. vi. 247 Thence horsing thir Foot, diffus'd far wider thir outragious incursions. 1726–46 Thomson Winter 801 There..Wide roams the Russian exile. 1740 Akenside Ode, On Winter-Solstice v, Each hov'ring tempest..Which now wide-threat'ning loads the sky. 1831 Wordsw. Yarrow Revisited 9 Grave thoughts ruled wide on that sweet day. 1889 Swinburne Poems & Ball. Ser. iii. Jacobite's Exile xiv, On Keilder-side the wind blaws wide. |
b. in
phr. far and wide (rarely
wide and far);
† wide and side (see
side adv.1 1).
| a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 10 June 94 He..ferde..feorr ond wide ᵹeond middanᵹeard. c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. x, Wæron þas wundor feorr & wide ᵹemæred. a 1000 Andreas 1637 Þa ᵹesamnodon..weras..wide & side. c 1200– [see side adv.1 1]. a 1250 Owl & Night. 710 (Jesus MS.) Þu axest me..[I]f ich con eny oþer dede Bute syngen in sume tyde & bringe blisse veor & wyde. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1256 Fro ðe riche flod eufrate, Wid and fer to ðe rede se. c 1400 St. Alexius 161 (Cotton MS.) Hys Fader send bothe fer and vyde Messengers on euery syde. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 196 b, They distroye the countrie with fyre farre & wyde. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 91 That word, broad,..added to the Goose, proues thee farre and wide, a broad Goose. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 133 Thir Legions..Scout farr and wide into the Realm of night. 1761 Gray Fatal Sisters 60 Far and wide the notes prolong. 1813 Scott Rokeby v. x, Their vassals wander wide and far [:war]. 1828 Southey Ess. (1832) II. 434 Multitudes..assemble, coming from far and wide. 1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xix, Though they scoured the country far and wide. |
c. Coal-mining. (See
wide a. 2 b.)
| 1904 Times 23 May 7/6 Payment was by tonnage raised when working ‘wide’—i.e., on the face of the seam. |
2. a. With a large space or spaces between; at a wide interval or intervals; far apart or asunder; in
quot. 1481, with ‘wide’ or long steps. (
Cf. 5.)
| a 1000 Wife's Compl. 13 Þæt hy todælden unc þæt wit ᵹewidost in woruldrice lifdon. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud) an. 1012 Þa to ferde se here wide swa he ær ᵹegaderod wæs. a 1240 Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 201 Hwi ne worpe ich me bi-tweonen þeo ilke ermes so swiðe wide to-spredde and i-opened? 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxix. (Arb.) 105 The wulf stode wyder than reynard dyde and ofte ouertoke hym. 1684 Burnet tr. More's Utopia ii. 68 Where the Towns lie wider, they have much more Ground. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xii. 136 The Churches being built wide from one another. 1820 Keats Lamia ii. 178 A sacred tripod..Whose slender feet wide-swerv'd upon the soft..carpets. 1861 Reade Cloister & H. i, But when Elias whispered ‘Sit wider!’ says she, ‘Ay! the table will soon be too big for the children.’ 1885 Manch. Exam. 22 June 5/3 Their fields of activity are so wide apart. |
b. Of a horse: With the legs apart:
opp. to
near adv.2 11.
| 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1557/4 A Bright Bay Gelding..Walks and Gallops wide behind. 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 40 A Horse that goes wide before, and near behind. Ibid. 63 He should stand pretty wide behind, and near before. |
c. Loosely asunder; so as not to remain close or in contact.
| 1784 Cowper Task i. 567 The sportive wind blows wide Their flutt'ring rags, and shows a tawny skin. 1819 Shelley Cyclops 66 Shaking wide thy yellow hair. 1833 Tennyson Lady of Shalott iii. v, Out flew the web and floated wide. |
3. With a wide or broad opening;
esp. with
open vb. or
adj. = fully; to the full extent; with
fling,
fly,
set, etc. (in ref. to a door, gate, or the like)
= wide open (coinciding with the predicative use of
wide a. 7).
With
wide open cf. Du. wijd open, G.
weit offen,
ON. v{iacu}ðopnir name of the hall of Hel.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxviii[i]. 131 Muð ic ontynde minne wide. c 1220 Bestiary 506 Ðanne him hungreð he gapeð wide. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 2142 Werpis þam vp..& wyde open settis. c 1400 Siege Jerus. (E.E.T.S.) 22/389 A dragoun..Wydegapande,..gomes to swelwe. c 1450 Cursor M. 18125 (Laud MS.) Opyn your yates ye prynces wyde. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxx[i]. 10 Open thy mouth wyde, & I shal fyll it. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 214 This is a strange repose, to be asleepe With eyes wide open. 1718 Pope Iliad xv. 813 The Scene wide-opening to the Blaze of Light. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1145 Wide-rent, the clouds Pour a whole flood. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. i. ii, The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. cxvii, The door flew wide. 1854 Patmore Angel in Ho., Betrothal 18 The windows, all wide open thrown. 1895 Rider Haggard Heart of World xvi, The doors were flung wide. 1909 Stacpoole Pools of Silence xix, [Elephants] with trunks swung up, ears spread wide. |
4. wide open.
† a. (Of a person): Stretched at full length,
esp. on the back.
Obs.| 13.. Northern Passion (1913) I. 187/1604 A token ihesu..And leiden him wid opene on þe rod. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 335 He laf slawe..Forty score..Wyd opene one here bake. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 607/43 Resupinus, wyde ope. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 254 He thus lyenge wyde open, & they goynge ouer hym & bestrydynge hym. 1551 T. Wilson Logic D vj b, Whan a mans body is in any wyse placed, as to lie a syde, to stande vpright, to sitte, to leane, to lye grouelyng, to lye wyde open. |
b. Boxing, etc. Fully exposed to assault; unprotected, off one's guard. Freq.
fig.,
esp. in
phr. to leave (lay, etc.) (oneself) wide open.
| 1915 E. Corri 30 Yrs. Boxing Referee 150 Johnny Summers..in an unguarded moment, left himself wide open and encountered one of the most decisive knock-out punches I ever saw. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? i. 14 You never find me going in for favors... It leaves you wide open. 1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway vi. 148 Honey lays himself wide open to that sort of thing. 1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive iv. 42 One fine day he would catch me wide open and slam me down. |
c. transf. Of an issue, case: not circumscribed or prejudiced by conditions; unrestricted (in its implications, effects, etc.); not resolved or decided;
spec. of a police investigation.
| 1963 ‘J. Melville’ Burning is Substitute iii. 51 Charmian suddenly had the feeling that this affair..was wide open, could reach anywhere. 1970 Daily Tel. 10 July 19 The fate of Penguin Publishing Company is still wide open. 1973 J. Thomson Death Cap iii. 41 They're the only people who so far have entered the case... As far as I'm concerned, it's still wide open. 1982 C. Aird Last Respects xiii. 137 It's [sc. a murder enquiry] what you might call wide open still... You'll have to look on it as a challenge. |
5. At (to, from) a (great, or specified) distance; far, far away, far off; (so far) away or off. Now only
dial.| Beowulf 1588 Hra wide sprong. a 1250 Owl & Night. 288 Ich wende from heom wide. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 5 White rokkes aboute þe clyues of þe see þat were i-seie wide [L. a longe apparentibus]. 1572 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxi. 176 Wandering wyde fra this countrie Amang all vther Natiounis. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 34 A little wyde There was an holy Chappell edifyde. 1623 J. Taylor (Water P.) New Discov. B 1, A Towne call'd Goreing, stood neare two miles wide. 1690 Temple Misc. ii. ii. 57 The Chineses: a People, whose way of thinking, seems to lie as wide of ours in Europe as their Country does. 1693 Plot in Miscell. Cur. Subj. (1714) 44 His Ships..lying above a Mile and half wide off the Town of Sandwich. 1756 Washington Lett. Writ. 1889 I. 391 Fort Cumberland lying..wide of all other forts. 1857 Hawthorne Engl. Note-bks. (1870) II. 197 Not only in this district, but wide away. 1859 Meredith Juggling Jerry iv, I was a lad not wide from here. |
6. At a distance to one side; aside from the aim, or from the direct or proper course; so as to miss the mark or the way; astray. Also
const. of (
† from).
Cf. wide a. 10.
a. in physical sense.
spec. in
Cricket, out of reach of the batsman.
| 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 101 To shoote wyde and far of the marke. Ibid. 102 Than..those be wiser men, which couete to shoote wyde than those whiche couete to hit the prycke. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 5 Then bad the knight his Lady..to an hill her selfe with draw aside,..She him obayd, and turnd a little wyde. 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 494 Pyrrhus at Priam driues, in Rage strikes wide. 1639 Fuller Holy War i. xvii. 27 In bowling they must needs throw wide, which know not the green or alley whereon they play. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 97 A little wide of the way to the Right Hand, I saw the Church. 1799 E. Du Bois Piece Fam. Biog. II. 3 The doctor..had escaped by going a little wide of the ass. 1833 J. Nyren Yng. Crick. Tutor 24 A..ball..pitched a little wide of the off stump. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, Johnson the young bowler is getting wild, and bowls a ball almost wide to the off. 1859 Lever Dav. Dunn xlix, He shot with the pistol, he fenced, he whipped the trout stream... He only hit the bull's-eye once in three shots—he fenced wide—a pike carried off his tackle. 1876 Coursing Calendar 27 Well Park,..raced past Skedaddle for first turn, and went wide. 1899 Rider Haggard Swallow xviii, [He] fired at him, but the ball went wide. |
b. fig. (or in
fig. context);
† in early use often
= so as to err, mistakenly (
cf. wide a. 10 b).
| 1534 More Comf. agst. Trib. i. 1151/2 Nay Cosyn,..there walke you somewhat wide, for ther you defende your owne righte for your temporal auayle. 1535 Coverdale Bible Prol., Many wryters..seldome made mencyon of y⊇ scripture of the Byble: & though they some tyme aleged it, yet was it done..so wyde from y⊇ purpose, that a man maye well perceaue, how that they neuer sawe the oryginall. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 269 Cæsar auouched hym to had dooen ferre wyde. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxvii. ii, Thou their guide Go'st never wide From truth and righteousnes. 1586 Day Engl. Secretorie i. (1625) 80 You reckon too wide;..you are too much deceived. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 63 Is my Lord well, that he doth speake so wide? 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 486 If I should fetch it from Gron a Saxon word that signifieth a fenny place, I might perhaps goe wide. a 1625 Fletcher Captain ii. ii, You hurt not me, Your anger flies so wide. 1677 Otway Titus & Berenice i. ii, Thou answerst wide of my desire. 1705 tr. Bosman's Guinea 242 This carries me wide from my Subject. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 234 ¶4 To compare our Practice with their Precepts, and find where it was that we came short, or went wide. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 810 Vice parries wide Th' undreaded volley [of rusted arrows] with a sword of straw. |
7. Comb. with
pres. or
pa. pples., less commonly with
adjs., forming
adjs. (unlimited in number), as
wide-branching,
wide-circling,
wide-climbing,
wide-consuming,
wide-echoing,
wide-expanding,
wide-extending,
wide-gaping,
wide-ranging,
wide-reaching,
wide-resounding,
wide-rolling,
wide-straddling,
wide-stretching,
wide-sweeping,
wide-wasting,
wide-winding,
wide-yawning;
wide-expanded,
wide-extended,
wide-flung,
wide-opened,
wide-stretched;
wide-apart,
wide-distant,
wide-imperial;
wide-open a., (
a)
lit. (see also senses 3, 4); (
b)
U.S. Of a town: not oppressed by laws or law enforcement. See also wide-awake, -spread, -spreading
adjs.;
wide-where adv.| 1941 E. Bowen Look at all those Roses 39 The *wide-apart birch-trees. 1983 T. Hughes in Listener 21 Apr. 27/1 They have a chirruppy, chicken-sweet expression With goo-goo starlet wide-apart eyes. |
| 1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 481 Her *wide-branching Arms. 1873 Howells Chance Acquaintance ii. (1883) 45 An audacious, wide-branching moustache. |
| a 1700 Congreve Poems, To the King iii. Wks. 1730 III. 213 Thro' Seas, Earth, Air, and the *wide circling Sky. 1872 Blackie Lays Highl. 164 There's room in God's wide-circling arm For all that swear by all the creeds. |
| 1887 C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 301 A *wide-climbing shrub. |
| 1742 Young Nt. Th. iii. 223 Smoke betrays the *wide-consuming fire. |
| 1750 Shenstone Rural Elegance 124 Fame's *wide-echoing trumpet. |
| 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 321 A *wide-expanding knowledge of the enlargement of mankind. |
| 1695 Congreve Mourn. Muse 178 Lord of these Woods, and *wide extended Plains. 1708 J. Philips Cyder ii. 588 His wide-extended Wings. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 375 With numerous, wide-extended branches. 1831 James Phil. Augustus xxxviii, Gazing over the wide-extended view. |
| 1889 F. Cowper Captain of Wight 34 The *wide-extending view, over broad pasture and swelling down. |
| 1860 Longfellow Wayside Inn i. K. Olaf v. ii, The *wide-flung door. |
| a 1721 Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) I. 71 The *wide-gaping gulph. |
| 1728–46 Thomson Spring 56 Such themes as these the rural Maro sung To *wide-imperial Rome. |
| 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. ix. 258 The common notion..has strong and *wide-lying evidence in its favour. |
| 1852 Tennyson in Ld. T. Mem. (1897) I. 357 Looking at me with such apparently earnest, *wide-open eyes. 1877 Black Green Past. i. 9 They..drew up in front of the wide-open door. 1892 Harper's Mag. June 103/1 It is what they call in Montana ‘a wide-open town’. 1975 J. Gores Hammett xi. 79 He has been elected three times because the citizens want a wide-open town. |
| 1864 Skeat tr. Uhland's Songs, etc. 269 From Heav'n's *wide-opened portals. 1876 ‘Ouida’ Winter City xii, She could only look at him with wide-opened eyes. |
| 1816 Edin. Rev. Sept. 182 This *wide-ranging Intellect was illuminated by the brightest Fancy. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Feb. 76/4 A representative anthology, which is so wide-ranging in its material..that its final effect is rather of confusion than of enlightenment. 1980 B. Hill in Beautiful Brit. Columbia Summer 39 The wide-ranging sheep that are one of the island's main farm products provide the source of wool for local weavers. |
| 1856 Grote Greece ii. xciv. XII. 346 The..powerful, and *wide-reaching impression. |
| 1726–46 Thomson Winter 996 The *wide-resounding plain. |
| 1785 T. Dwight Conquest of Canāan xi. 295 *Wide-rolling dust the neighbouring concave fills. 1805 Montgomery Ocean i, Thou wide-rolling Ocean, all hail! |
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iv. Captains 945 As..the Grass..Fals at the Foot of the *wide-straddling Mower. |
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iv. 82 All *wide-stretched Honors, that pertaine..Vnto the Crowne of France. 1742 Young Nt. Th. vii. 747 The wide stretcht realm of intellectual woe. |
| 1726–46 Thomson Winter 951 *Wide-stretching from these shores... A huge neglected empire. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. lxix, Wide-stretching purposes. |
| 1924 Motor 14 Oct. 491 (caption) One of the two *wide-sweeping bankings on the new speedway at Montlhery, near Paris. 1979 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 409/2 Wessex..will therefore not be subjected to wide-sweeping environmental problems. |
| 1674 Milton P.L. (ed. 2) xi. 487 *Wide wasting Pestilence. 1814 Wordsw. Ode, ‘When the soft hand of sleep’ 145 Wide-wasting Time. |
| 1816 Shelley There is no work 28 The *wide-winding caves. a 1876 M. Collins Pen Sketches (1879) II. 231 O'er earth's wide-winding ways. |
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 241 His yet *wide-yawning lips. 1598 Ibid. ii. ii. iv. 591 Wide-yawning Gulfs. |
▪ IV. † wide, v. Obs. [f. wide a.; cf. ON. v{iacu}ða; OE. w{iacu}dian app. did not survive.] trans. To make wide or wider:
= widen v. 2; in 2nd
quot. to set widely apart.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8232 Þan dide þe king tilward þat side Þat orchiard al for to wide. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 923 And wide hem so that, though the winde him shake, No drope of oon vntil another take. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 526/2 Wydyn, or make wyde, dilato. |
▪ V. wide Sc. f. wade v.;
var. wede v.
Obs.;
obs. f. weed.