dilate
to make wider or larger; cause to expand.
Archaic. to describe or develop at length.
to spread out; expand.
to speak or write at length; expatiate (often followed by on or upon).
Origin of dilate
1synonym study For dilate
Other words from dilate
- di·lat·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- di·lat·a·ble, adjective
- non·di·lat·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- non·di·lat·a·ble, adjective
- o·ver·di·late, verb, o·ver·di·lat·ed, o·ver·di·lat·ing.
- re·di·late, verb, re·di·lat·ed, re·di·lat·ing.
- self-di·lat·ed, adjective
- sub·di·lat·ed, adjective
- un·di·lat·a·ble, adjective
- un·di·lat·ed, adjective
- un·di·lat·ing, adjective
Words that may be confused with dilate
- dilate , dilute
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dilate in a sentence
Her expression was still petrified, except that she might have had the scent of blood in her slightly dilating nostrils.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonWith a cry of fear Valerie shrank back against the panelled wall, her little hands to her cheeks, her eyes dilating with alarm.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniBut if he did not see the woman's movements, mademoiselle saw them, and the sight set her eyes dilating with a new fear.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniBut he shrank away more and more, with his eyes dilating, and he said a few words quite fiercely in his own tongue.
Mass' George | George Manville FennSomething like a panic came into the dilating eyes of the big bull.
The Watchers of the Trails | Charles G. D. Roberts
British Dictionary definitions for dilate
/ (daɪˈleɪt, dɪ-) /
to expand or cause to expand; make or become wider or larger: the pupil of the eye dilates in the dark
(intr; often foll by on or upon) to speak or write at length; expand or enlarge
Origin of dilate
1Derived forms of dilate
- dilatable, adjective
- dilatability or dilatableness, noun
- dilation or dilatation (ˌdaɪləˈteɪʃən, ˌdɪ-), noun
- dilatational, adjective
- dilative (daɪˈleɪtɪv, dɪ-), adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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