widened

verb

past tense of widen
as in broadened
to increase the width, breadth, or scope of Immediate action to widen the highway is needed to ease the near constant congestion. The authorities planned to widen their investigation into Ponzi scheme.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of widened Chinese courts have also widened their reach over cross-border disputes, particularly in global patent litigation, by ordering parties not to pursue or enforce competing proceedings abroad. — Mark Jia, Foreign Affairs, 7 Aug. 2026 In Australia, the Sydney Quantum Academy has widened its Industry Experience Program to undergraduates and working professionals, with CSIRO forecasting upwards of 19,400 local quantum jobs by 2045. — Kris Naudts, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026 The roadway that connects South Florida with Southwest Florida was widened to four lanes beginning in the 1980s. — Miami Herald Staff, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2026 By May, Democrats widened that lead by 2 percentage points, and by July, the gap widened by another 2 points to 53% for Democrats and 42% for the GOP. — Chad De Guzman, Time, 4 Aug. 2026 The Dodgers remain all by themselves in Tier 1, and the gap to Tier 2 and below has widened considerably. — Tim Britton, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026 Washington — The world’s largest economy lost steam heading into summer as red-hot demand for AI infrastructure widened the trade deficit, dampening growth. — Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 30 July 2026 The unclaimed attack comes as Iran, its Houthi allies in Yemen and Iraqi militias have widened strikes on energy infrastructure across the region. — Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 30 July 2026 Iran war could drag on for months The US-Iran war will likely drag on for months, analysts predicted, as new strikes disrupted a tenuous pause and the conflict widened. — Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 29 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for widened
  1. broadened
  2. expanded
  3. intensified
Verb
  • Rather than relying on a small number of large prime contractors for all parts, the Navy and other services have broadened their qualified supplier lists.
    — Aditya Jadhav, Interesting Engineering, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The race to develop Bundibugyo-specific vaccines broadened Tuesday with the announcement that Moderna has started enrolling participants in a Phase 1 clinical trial of its messenger RNA vaccine.
    — Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of broadened
Verb
  • There were reports that Seagate expanded their head production facilities by 3X in Minneapolis in June, 2026.
    — Thomas Coughlin, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The conflict in the Middle East has expanded over recent days, with tensions between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia ramping up.
    — Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of expanded
Verb
  • Houthis’ allies The Houthis are backed by Iran, which began increasing its aid to the group in 2014 as the civil war escalated and as its rivalry with Saudi Arabia intensified.
    — Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Violence has intensified across several regions as criminal organizations and guerrilla groups have expanded their territorial influence over the past several years.
    — Armando Regil Velasco, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of intensified

Browse Nearby Words

widen
widened
widening
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Widened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/widened. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on widened

Nglish: Translation of widened for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of vacuous

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All