See Also: wide(1)(dictionary)
wide boy(dictionary)
wide(2)(dictionary)
wide(dictionary)
wide-where(dictionary)
Wide opening(finance)
WIDE BAY Australia Ltd(finance)
Wide opening(money)
wide-awake(dictionary)
wide spectrum(medicine)

wide(1) (iou)



wide adjective.
[Old English wid = Old Frisian, Old Saxon wid, Old High German wit (Dutch wijd, German weit), Old Norse vier, from Germanic, of unkn. origin.]
I.
Spacious, extensive. Now usu., having great horizontal extent; esp. as a conventional epithet (chiefly literary) of words denoting a large area, as earth, sea, world, etc. OE.
Bible (Coverdale): Proverbs 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner..then with a braulinge woman in a wyde house. M. Moorcock The train moved into wide, horizonless steppe-land. Commercials The dolphins hadn't been brought up in the big wide underwater world.
b. Of a garment etc.: capacious; large and loose. obsolete exc. dial. in wide coat, an overcoat. ME.
c. Large, substantial. ME-M16.
Extending over or affecting a large area; far-reaching. Chiefly poet. OE.
fig. Having a large range or scope; embracing a great number or variety of people or things; extensive, comprehensive. M16.
J. Ruskin I want a definition of art wide enough to include all its varieties of aim. J. Agate F. Y.'s interests are very wide, and he can write equally well about church organs and flying. Economist The managers have a wide discretion in their investment policy. S. Bellow He was a wide reader.
b. Of opinions or the person holding them: liberal, broad, unprejudiced. E19.
A. F. Douglas-Home He was credited with a wide and liberal outlook on human affairs.
II.
Measuring a considerable distance from side to side; broad (opp. narrow). Also, extending throughout a specified area (only as 2nd elem. of comb., as country-wide, nationwide, worldwide, etc.). OE.
E. O'Neill They make wide detours to avoid the spot. Listener A coffee-table book, with..wide margins. R. Travers He sent them further afield, covering a wider area. G. Vidal The..palace..is approached by a wide straight avenue.
Having a specified transverse measurement; (a specified extent) in breadth. OE.
Skin Diver The ship was 120 feet long and 30 feet wide.
Now chiefly of the eyes: opened widely. E16.
Keats Many a door was wide. J. Steinbeck Juana stared at him with wide unfrightened eyes.
b. Phonetics. Of a vowel sound: pronounced with the vocal muscles relaxed. Opp. NARROW adjective 7a. M19.
III.
a. Situated at a great or specified distance from something. Usu. foll. by of. LME-M19.
O. Heywood A place..4 miles wide of St. Albans.
b. fig. Far (apart) in nature, character, opinion, etc.; not in accordance, divergent. Foll. by from, of. Now rare. M16.
J. Bentham My own notions..were too wide of the notions prevalent among lawyers.
Deviating from the point aimed at or the direct course; Cricket (of a ball) bowled too far to one side of the wicket for the batsman to strike it (cf. WIDE noun 3). Freq. fig., foll. by of or (now rare) from, esp. in wide of the mark below. M16.
G. Berkeley Your Comment must be wide of the Author's meaning.
Of an interval, distinction, etc.: extending far between limits; existing between two things which are far apart. L16.
J. Ruskin There is a wide difference between elementary..and superficial knowledge. Independent The gap is surely too wide to bridge.
Going beyond bounds of restraint, moderation, etc.; excessive; spec. (now slang) loose, immoral. L16.
Daily News Prices asked are very wide, and are beyond the values that merchants are disposed to give.
[Short for wide awake.] Shrewd, wary, alert; esp. skilled in sharp practice, engaging in shady dealings. (Cf. wide boy below.) slang. L19.
Church Times Local councillors..are..thought of as wide, power-seeking or pompous.
Phrases: all wool and a yard wide: see WOOL noun 2. give a wide berth to: see BERTH noun 1a. wide of the mark not to the point, irrelevant; mistaken. wide open spaces: see open space (b) s.v. OPEN adjective.
Special collocations & comb.: wide-angle adjective having a wider field of view than the standard. wide area network a network similar to a local area network but joining computers that are further apart (e.g. in different towns); abbreviation WAN. wide-band adjective having a wide band of frequencies or wave-lengths. wide-bodied adjective (of a large jet aeroplane) having a wide fuselage. wide-body adjective = wide-bodied above. wide boy slang a man who lives by his wits, esp. dishonestly; a petty criminal, a spiv. wide brown land (Austral.) the country of Australia. wide-cut adjective (Oil Industry) involving or produced by fractional distillation over a wide temperature range. wide-eyed adjective having the eyes wide open with amazement; fig. naive, innocent. wideout = wide receiver below. wide receiver Amer. Football a pass receiver positioned several yards to the side of an offensive formation. wide-scale adjective that occurs on a wide scale; extensive, widespread. wide screen a cinema screen which presents a wide field of vision in proportion to its height. wide world all the world great as it is.