Etimology
From Middle English wid, wyd, from Old English wīd (“wide, vast, broad, long; distant, far”), from Proto-Germanic *wīdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate, divide”), a dissimilated univerbation from *dwi- (“apart, asunder, in two”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do, put, place”). Cognate with Scots wyd, wid (“of great extent; vast”), West Frisian wiid (“broad; wide”), Dutch wijd (“wide; large; broad”), German weit (“far; wide; broad”), Danish vid (“wide”), Swedish vid (“wide”), Icelandic víður (“wide”), Latin dīvidō (“separate, sunder”), Latin vītō (“avoid, shun”). Related to widow.
adjective
wide (comparative wider, superlative widest)
Having a large physical extent from side to side.
Large in scope.
(sports) Operating at the side of the playing area.
On one side or the other of the mark; too far sideways from the mark, the wicket, the batsman, etc.
(phonetics, dated) Made, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the organs in the mouth.
(Scotland, Northern England, now rare) Vast, great in extent, extensive.
(obsolete) Located some distance away; distant, far. [15th–19th c.]
(obsolete) Far from truth, propriety, necessity, etc.
(computing) Of or supporting a greater range of text characters than can fit into the traditional 8-bit representation.
(British, slang) Antagonistic, shrewd, unscrupulous, provocative.
Examples
We walked down a wide corridor.
The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.
The inquiry had a wide remit.
That team needs a decent wide player.
Too bad! That was a great passing-shot, but it's wide.
Surely he shoots wide on the Bow-Hand.
I was but two bows wide.
The wide, lifeless expanse.
Mr Hunt's house, you know, lies wide from Harlowe-place.
the contrary [being] so wide from the truth of Scripture and the attributes of God
And I trust anon by the help of an infallible guide, to perfect such Prutenic tables, as shall mend the astronomy of our wide expositors.
But I tell you, it is farre wyde, that the people haue ſuche iudgmentes, the Byſhoppes they coulde laughe at it.
How wide is all this long pretence!
a wide character; a wide stream
But the first visitor to penetrate from the outside world proved to be Sergeant Williams; large and pink and scrubbed-looking; and for a little while Grant forgot about battles long ago and considered wide boys alive today.
Related words
antonyms
narrow (regarding empty area)
thin (regarding occupied area)
skinny (sometimes offensive, regarding body width)
hyponyms
Africa-wide
America-wide
Asia-wide
Europe-wide
EU-wide
kilometre-wide
km-wide
metre-wide
m-wide
nation-wide
region-wide
site-wide
space-wide
system-wide
US-wide
worldwide
related terms
width
adverb
wide (comparative wider, superlative widest)
extensively
completely
away from or to one side of a given goal
So as to leave or have a great space between the sides; so as to form a large opening.
Examples
He travelled far and wide.
He was wide awake.
The arrow fell wide of the mark.
A few shots were fired but they all went wide.
The Reds carved the first opening of the second period as Glen Johnson's pull-back found David Ngog but the Frenchman hooked wide from six yards.
And with his knee the dore he opens wide
noun
wide (plural wides)
(cricket) A ball that passes so far from the batsman that the umpire deems it unplayable; the arm signal used by an umpire to signal a wide; the extra run added to the batting side's score