width

American  

[width, witth, with] / wɪdθ, wɪtθ, wɪθ /

noun

1. extent from side to side; breadth; wideness.

2. a piece of the full wideness, as of cloth.

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width British  

/ wɪdθ /

noun

1. the linear extent or measurement of something from side to side, usually being the shortest dimension or (for something fixed) the shortest horizontal dimension

2. the state or fact of being wide

3. a piece or section of something at its full extent from side to side

   a width of cloth

4. the distance across a rectangular swimming bath, as opposed to its length

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Etymology

Origin of width

1620–30; wide + -th ¹, modeled on breadth, etc.

Example Sentences

When they designed a table using a plank with a natural gap, they left the gap in the center, which helped them get the right width and refine its shape.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Both are around 20 miles wide, with most ships using just a small portion of that width.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

Anthony, scorer of Burnley's second goal, was offside by the width of his shoulder, something he described as "disappointing".

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

That interval is so brief that even light would not travel across the width of a small virus during that time.

From Science Daily • Feb. 9, 2026

Now he was coming to the end of the inlet, a high blank wrinkled mass of rock against which, narrowed to the width of a little creek, the last sea-waves lapped feebly.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• diameter
• girth
• scope
• span
• thickness