broaden
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
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:
Now, he sees the growing popularity of genres such as amapiano - a popular South African house music subgenre - as an opportunity to broaden the scene.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Hiring has also begun to broaden out beyond healthcare, which accounted for 95% of all new jobs in 2025.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026
As a result, Milburn says children should be introduced to the world of work much earlier in their school journey, with dedicated space in the curriculum to "broaden horizons".
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
“The listing is intended to improve Glencore’s profile with Australian investors, broaden its shareholder base, improve trading liquidity and enhance corporate financial flexibility,” the analyst says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
They want to then put that knowledge to work to try to increase the brain’s capacity to broaden the limits of attention.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
The discovery broadens the known variety of magnetic minerals found in lunar samples.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
The new framework broadens accountability to nonprofit institutions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
The International Fact-Checking Network has previously warned of devastating consequences if Meta broadens its policy shift related to fact-checkers beyond US borders to the company's programs covering more than 100 countries.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 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
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
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
“Women’s favorability dipped during and right after the tournament before recovering in September, and their purchase consideration drifted down slightly across the whole window. If the marketing broadened Adidas’s appeal, it landed more with men.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
But generative AI has vastly broadened the range of tasks that humans can successfully outsource.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 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
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
Revenue across the division was up 23% sequentially, driven by growing demand, a broadening scope of services and geographic expansion into Asia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
It is maintaining these outdated financial thresholds while broadening the definition of an accredited investor to include anyone holding specific finance-related credentials, like a CPA or a CFA, regardless of their financial resources.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Many firms have started passing on those costs to consumers, broadening inflationary pressures for which there is no easy fix.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
“Stamp out any thought among your men that they are getting shells from the enemy. Far from it. My work is absolutely first, then comes the broadening of the rowing game.”
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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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.
