wide
wide Lexical Profile
wide Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Of great or more than average width; measuring a large distance from side to side.
"The city council voted to construct a wide boulevard lined with shade trees."
Including a great variety of people, things, or subjects; extensive in scope or range.
"The university library offers a wide selection of historical archives and rare manuscripts."
Having a specified measurement from side to side.
"The antique oak dining table is exactly four feet wide."
Opened to the fullest extent.
"The children listened to the storyteller with wide eyes."
At a significant distance from a specified target, point, or truth.
"Early estimates of the project's total cost were wide of the mark."
• adverb
To the full extent; completely.
"She threw the windows wide open to let in the crisp morning air."
Over a large area or to many different places.
"The scholars searched far and wide for surviving copies of the medieval treatise."
Off target; at a considerable distance to the side of a goal or intended mark.
"The midfielder's final penalty kick went wide of the goalpost."
• noun
British In cricket, a ball bowled beyond the batsman's reach, scoring an extra run for the batting side.
"The bowler struggled with his line and conceded three wides in a single over."
Word Nuance & Usage
As an adverb, 'wide' refers to physical extent, full opening, or missing a target (e.g., 'open wide', 'wide awake'), whereas 'widely' denotes broad distribution, frequency, or degree across many people or places (e.g., 'widely known', 'widely available').
• Rhymes for wide
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'wid', meaning vast, broad, or spacious, derived from Proto-Germanic '*widaz' (related to German 'weit' and Dutch 'wijd').