broaden
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
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.
Broaden the scope of the potential negotiations, though, and things get more interesting.
From Slate • Mar. 4, 2024
Broaden the time horizon to two years following the first rate increase, and the S&P 500 still had a positive return in all but one of them.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 2, 2021
Broaden your horizons with this MoMA retrospective, which highlights the ways in which American and European schools of humor influenced each other.
From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2018
Broaden that out to late-night talks shows, the CW and sumptuous costume dramas and you have a pretty tidy summary of this year’s Emmy omissions.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 14, 2016
Broaden the visions of those you come in contact with.
From The Power of Concentration by Dumont, Theron Q.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
