broaden
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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broadens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
broadened,
past participle, past
-
broadening
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
broadensimple
-
broadenssimple
-
have broadenedperfect
-
has broadenedperfect
-
am broadeningprogressive
-
are broadeningprogressive
-
is broadeningprogressive
-
have been broadeningperfect progressive
-
has been broadeningperfect progressive
Past
-
broadenedsimple
-
had broadenedperfect
-
was broadeningprogressive
-
were broadeningprogressive
-
had been broadeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of broaden
Explanation
To broaden something is to make it wider or more expansive. If you wake up feeling less than cheerful, the sight of the doughnuts your dad got for breakfast might broaden your smile. Something can broaden literally, like a river that broadens as you hike beside it, growing wider as it flows south. Things also broaden figuratively, the way people's minds tend to broaden when they travel around the world and meet people from different cultures. In both cases, things that broaden expand and become more open.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It also would broaden public insight into how lease agreements with the port affect the local workforce by adding employment reporting requirements for any leaseholder extending a lease or any lease applicant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
PRT also would broaden public insight into how lease agreements with the port affect the local workforce.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
“Technology for high-voltage solutions will broaden our grid-equipment portfolio and expand our presence across product lines where we have a modest presence today,” Strazik says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The MLA added that "opportunities that educate, inspire and broaden horizons are quietly lost while Stormont remains distracted from the issues that matter most to families".
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
I think he sensed my frustration at living in mutually exclusive worlds and thought a game of baseball would bring together my neighborhood friends and my wealthier Riverdale classmates and broaden the horizons of both.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
At the same time, “Black Zombie” recognizes this subgenre’s cultural resilience, arguing that recognizing the zombie’s true roots broadens its narrative possibilities.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026
The discovery broadens the known variety of magnetic minerals found in lunar samples.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
“The combination broadens the resource base, reduces reliance on the higher-decline Norwegian portfolio and creates a 2nd infrastructure-led development engine in Denmark.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
“When it broadens out, it makes it much more difficult to avoid for consumers. That’s really the concern going forward,” Yaros said, adding that it’s especially challenging for lower-income households.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
‘And this ledge broadens out to the right. I could stand there without a hold. I’ll——’ his words were cut short.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
But following the security clampdown, the movement broadened its demands to include greater protection for civil liberties and the right to protest.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Lakota is predominantly known to be a bass music venue, but over the years it has broadened its programme to include Afrobeats and amapiano events.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Toyota didn’t foresee the rise in U.S. gas prices, Rose said, and that has broadened the RAV4’s appeal beyond hybrids’ coastal strongholds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
In other words, that means the rally suddenly broadened to most of the sector from only a handful of consumer stocks, said analysts at SentimenTrader.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
Well, my answer is that in the Muslim World, I saw, I felt, and I wrote home how my thinking was broadened!
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Chairman Kevin Warsh said higher rates are reaching the investment surge and growth is broadening beyond it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
It relied hugely on advertising that was brokered through third-party services such as Apple, and wanted to change that by broadening beyond social media to its own hardware and devices.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
Mail-in voting has become more popular over the last decade, with many states broadening access to it during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2026
In our call of the day, Inui thinks unexpected earnings strength could show up in sectors and stocks where investors least expect, and might just drive a hoped-for broadening of stock-market performance.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Four bartenders moved in an unrehearsed dance as they tried to provide drinks to the impatient Marines who screamed at them above the broadening dimensions of pandemonium loose in the Officers’ Club.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
