widen
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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widens,
present (3rd person singular)
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widened,
past participle, past
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widening
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
widensimple
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widenssimple
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have widenedperfect
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has widenedperfect
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am wideningprogressive
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are wideningprogressive
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is wideningprogressive
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have been wideningperfect progressive
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has been wideningperfect progressive
Past
-
widenedsimple
-
had widenedperfect
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was wideningprogressive
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were wideningprogressive
-
had been wideningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of widen
Explanation
When you made something broader or more open, you widen it. In order to add bike lanes on your street, the city may need to widen it. Your friend's smile will undoubtedly widen when you hand him a chocolate cupcake — in other words, what starts as a grin gets bigger and wider. A scholar who widens her area of expertise adds subjects to her research, and your dinner options widen when two great new restaurants open in your town.
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:
The report delivers a stark warning, too: "AI could widen gaps between countries, increase inequality within them, concentrate market power, weaken trust in public institutions, and create new risks for safety, rights, and social cohesion."
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
Brandon Nelson of Calamos Investments and his colleagues seek to identify small-cap companies with a “unique edge” allowing them to widen their profit margins as they increase revenue quickly.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Other factors could widen the gap including any state capital-gains taxes—California’s tops out at 13.3%—and a 3.8% federal tax on net investment income.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
"Such imagery and misinformation only serve to widen the distrust between the Philippines and China," it added.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Her eyes widen as she removes the little rectangular piece of paper.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
Nigeria's Dangote mega-refinery Thursday said it has secured $2.5 billion in investment from private investors to fund its expansion plans, as it widens its refining business to east Africa.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Occasionally, a new tool or technique comes along that widens this to a shotgun: aim at a few closely related problems and hope that you hit one.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026
If the race for nuclear weapons widens and accelerates, the region will become more unstable, heightening risks for the entire world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
The gap widens when long-term rates rise — boosting bank profits.
From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026
That space I’m imagining between us widens, ever so slightly.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
“Income inequality and the wealth divide in America have widened dramatically, and so has the gap in longevity and health between rich and poor.”
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
“It has always been the case that the poor, on average, live shorter lives than the rich, but the gap has widened over time,” Woolf said.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
Lucid’s second-quarter loss widened to $1.26 billion due to charges from job cuts, though revenue rose to $405.4 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The refunds widened profit and contributed to management’s guidance raise, as Newell expects to receive the cash refund in the second half of the year, it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Her eyes widened in surprise as she slid off the stage and started walking up the aisle toward me, dragging her feet.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
A combination of sales growth and widening profit margins is a good sign for any company.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
A handful of townspeople now mutter about seceding from the local council area, echoing a widening harrumph of displeasure with the various layers of government in Britain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
He had raised the dam’s height mid-construction, without widening the base to support the extra water pressure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
The hostility underscored a widening gulf between legacy networks and a growing ecosystem of independent digital outlets that many young Indians increasingly turn to for news.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
I felt a little too old to feel this emotional, so broken up, I had no words to describe the fissure I felt widening inside me—but I also felt like, why?
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
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.
