widen

verb

wid·​en ˈwī-dᵊn 

widened; widening ˈwīd-niŋ 

ˈwī-dᵊn-iŋ

transitive verb

: to increase the width, scope, or extent of

widen a road

widen an investigation

intransitive verb

: to become wide or wider

a widening gap

widener

ˈwīd-nər 

ˈwī-dᵊn-ər

noun

Examples of widen in a Sentence

The city is going to widen the road.

They plan to widen the investigation.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

They went swimming at a spot where the river widens.

The scope of the investigation has widened.

Recent Examples on the Web

If nothing appears, widen the date range and try former names, a spouse's name or another spelling used on older documents. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026

Rue Dangeau debuts Victorian Gothic thriller Séance starring Vivian Kerr with a one-week run at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles before widening to dates in San Francisco, Phoenix, Houston, Palm Springs and Sedona, with more cities to be announced. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026

What’s more, its growth runway could widen materially as the Huntsville, Alabama, company deepens its relationships with disruptive defense innovator Anduril Industries and space-launch leader SpaceX . — Harvey Stober, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026

Additional infrastructure over the years included widening 291, more traffic signals and a turning lane specifically for Costco. — Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1566, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for widen

• poseidon

Kids Definition

widen

verb

wid·​en ˈwīd-ᵊn 

widened; widening ˈwīd-niŋ 

-ᵊn-iŋ

: to make or become wide or wider : broaden