▪ I. widen, v.
(ˈwaɪd(ə)n)
[f. wide a. + -en5.]
† 1. trans. To open wide, set wide open. (Cf. wide a. 7.) Obs. rare.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. iv. 44 So, now the gates are ope:..'Tis for the followers Fortune widens them, Not for the flyers. 1627 Drayton Agincourt cxi, The gates thus widen'd..Their ample entrance to the English gaue. |
2. To make wide or wider: = broaden 2. a. lit. To increase the width or spatial extent of.
| 1669 Staynred Fortif. 8 You may..widen the Necks of the Gorges. 1694 tr. Marten's Voy. Spitzbergen in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. 127 A piece of Board, whereon the Dyers widen or stretch their Stockins. 1785 J. Phillips Treat. Inland Nav. 45, I would cleanse, widen, and deepen the river Stort. 1818 [S. Weston] La Scava 3 Under the pavement..we found foundations of a house that had been probably thrown down to widen the road. 1856 Kane Arctic Expl. II. xiv. 148 These split-off lines of ice were evidently in motion..widening their fissures. 1919 Engl. Rev. July 26 An outsweep of the left flanking hedge, widening the path for a few feet. |
b. fig. To increase the magnitude or range of; to extend.
| 1671 Stillingfl. Serm. Matt. xxi. 43 Wks. 1710 I. 119, I speak not these things to widen our differences, or increase our animosities. 1675 Essex Papers (Camden 1913) 22 Parliament is like to sitt longer..for ye differences between ye houses are so widened. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1768) III. 45 Ought I to widen my error by obstinacy and resentment? 1812 Landor Ct. Julian i. i, To..Widen the solitude of lonely sighs. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 138 The thoughts of men are widen'd with the process of the suns. 1870 Rock Text. Fabr. iv. (1876) 33 The word diaper became widened in its meaning. 1885 Manch. Exam. 13 July 5/5 The society is widening its scheme of operations. |
3. intr. To become wide or wider: = broaden v. 1. a. lit.
| 1709 Steele Tatler No. 118 ¶10 An Extinguisher, with a little Knob at the upper End, and widening downward. 1802 Playfair Illustr. Hutton. The. 404 Of a very uniform breadth except that at each end it widens considerably. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xii. (1856) 89 The aperture, at first a mere crack, widened to a couple of feet. 1877 Huxley Physiogr. xi. 174 The current widens, and its speed is slackened. 1920 Sat. Westm. Gaz. 22 May 9/1 The streamlet widens into a pond. |
b. fig.
| 1650 E. Williams Virgo Triumphans B 2 b, A reall quarrell widening. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xi. §11 That.. difference [between brutes and men]..which at last widens to so vast a distance. 1760–2 Goldsm. Cit. W. xcii, His wishes now rise one step above his station;..his prospects widen as he ascends. 1848 Dickens Dombey xliii, Florence..observed the estrangement between her father and Edith, and saw it widen more and more. 1866 J. Martineau Ess. I. 169 These questions deepen and widen under our hand. |
Hence widened (-d(ə)nd) ppl. a., widening vbl. n. (also concr.) and ppl. a.; also widener, one who or that which widens; an apparatus for widening something, spec. a drill constructed to bore a hole of greater diameter than its own.
| 1759 R. Smith Harmonics (ed. 2) 181 If any slider be drawn back again, which the *widened holes will permit. 1892 Daily News 6 Apr. 7/3 Good dividends and a widened market for the shares. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 7 Oct. 5/1 When we have our widened line system completed, it will be possible..to run express electric trains to and from Brighton. |
| 1683 Snape Anat. Horse iv. xiv. (1686) 172 The *Wideners or Dilaters of the Chest [sc. muscles]. 1908 Daily Chron. 21 Oct. 7/5 Then..it [sc. the glove] is ready for the dresser, who puts it into shape by means of sticks and wideners. |
| 1569 in Surrey & Kent Sewers Comm. (1909) 22 To the *wydnynge of the Mouth of the brydge there one foote and a halfe. 1659 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 281 If your body politic be mishapen at the making, the widening or straightening of it will not help it. 1677 Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 149 The widening of their capacities. 1782 A. Monro Compar. Anat. (ed. 3) 22 Respiration being chiefly performed..by the widening of the chest. 1884 Manch. Exam. 29 Sept. 5/3 The deepening, widening, and straightening of the rivers Mersey and Irwell. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 562 We..pass by a widening in the path. |
| 1791 Mackintosh Vind. Gallicæ Wks. 1846 III. 93 *Widening prospects of happiness. 1859 Jephson Brittany x. 169 Making a series of widening rings on the surface [of the water]. 1884 Church Bacon ix. 212 New ideas and widening thoughts. 1913 W. M. Ramsay Teaching of Paul xxiii. 133 The widening gap that intervenes. |
▪ II. † widen, adv. Obs.
Also 3 widene, 4 wydene.
[OE. w{iacu}dan, f. w{iacu}d wide a. Cf. OHG. wîteno, MHG. wîten(e, also wîtenan.]
In OE., from far; in ME., widely, far and wide.
| 932, c 1205 [see siden]. c 1000 in Kemble Cod. Dipl. (1845) III. 315 He his witan widan ᵹesomnod hæfde. c 1205 Lay. 112 Eneas þe duc mid his driht folcke widen iwalken ȝend þ{supt} wide water. Ibid. 161 {thbar} word..{thbar} was widene cuð. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 4 In Habite of an Hermite..Wende I wydene in þis world wondres to here. |