wide 
wide (will), "• auJ «■ [< ^iE. iciV/. «',V'/. < AS. 
trill = 0!S. icid = OFries. loV/ = T). idjd = LG. 
ir/ffl' = OHG. MHG. trit. G. wcit = leel. i'(7/(r = 
Sw. Dan. vid. wide; i-oot unknown.] I. fl. 1. 
Having relatively great or considerable exten- 
sion from side to"side ; broad: as, «•/* elotli ; a 
vide hall: opposed to ttarrow. 
Wide is the gate . . . that leadeth to destruction. 
Mat. vii. 13. 
Shallow brooks, and rivei-s wide. Milton, L' Allegro, 1. 7«. 
And wounds appear'd so inde as if the grave did gape 
To swallow both at once. Drayton, Polyolhion, i. 456. 
2. Having (a certain or specified) extension 
as measured from side to side; having (a 
specified) width or breadth: as. cloth a yard 
tcide. 
'Tis not so deep as a well, nor so mde as a church-door; 
but 'tis enough. Shak., R. and J., iii. 1. 100. 
The city of Oanea, capital of the western province of 
Candia, is situated at the east corner of a bay about fifteen 
miles wide. Pococke, Description of tlie East, II. i. 242. 
3. Of gi-eat horizontal extent; spacious; ex- 
tensive; vast; great: as, the rojrfc ocean. 
Corali castelles and couth and cuntres wide. 
WiUiam of Palerne (E. E. T. S.\ 1. 5063. 
For nothing this wide universe I call 
Save thou, my rose ; in it thou art my all. 
Shak., Sonnets, cix. 
These perpetual exploits abroad won him im'de fame. 
Milton, Hist. Eng., ii. 
Within the cave 
He left me, giant Polypheme's dark cave ; 
A dungeon wide and horrible. 
Addison, tr. of Virgil's .-Eneid, iii. 
The wide waste prmluced by the outbreak [of the Refor- 
mation] is forgotten. MacaJilay, Kurleigh. 
4. Embracing many subjects ; looking at a ques- 
tion from many points of view; applicable to 
many eases: as, a person of wide culture. 
States have always been best governed by men who have 
taken a wide view of public affairs, and who have rather 
a general acquaintance with many sciences than a perfect 
mastery of one. Macaulay, Athenian Orators. 
5. Capacious; bulging; loose; voluminous. 
I hadde wonder of his wordes and of his rvyde clothes ; 
For in his bosome he bar a thyng that he Missed euere. 
JHers Plotnnan (B), xvi. 
Weed mde enough to wrap a fairy in. 
Shak., M. N. I), 
6920 
1. To a distance; afar; widely; a long way; 
abroad ; extensively. 
Ihc habbe walke vnde 
Bi the se side. 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.), p. 27. 
The wounded coveys, reeling, scatter wide. 
Burm, Briggs of Ayr. 
IjCt Fame from brazen lips blow uide 
Her Chosen names. Whittier, My Namesake. 
2. Away or to one side of the mark, aim, pur- 
pose, or direct line; hence, astray. 
Nay, Cosyn, . . . there walke you somewhat wide, for 
ther you defende your owne righte for your temporal 
aualye. Sir T. More, Works (ed. l.')57), II. 1151. 
She him obayd, and turnd a little wyde. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. xi. 5. 
I understand you not ; you hurt not me, 
Your anger flies so wide. 
Beau, and Fl., Captain, ii. 2. 
His arrows fell exceedingly wide of each other. 
Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 130. 
3t. Round about; in the neighborhood around. 
Old Meliboe is slaine ; and him beside 
His aged wife, with many others mde. 
Spenser, V. Q., VI. xi. 18. 
Set wide. Seeseti.— To run wide. Seenmi. 
Widet (wid), V. t. [< ME. widen; < wide, a.] To 
make wide; spread or set far apart. 
And vdde hem [quinces] so that though the wynd hem 
shake, 
Noo droop of oon until an other take. 
Palladim, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 94. 
■wide-awake (wid'a-wak-'), «. and n. I. a. On 
the alert; keen; sliarp; knowing. [CoUoq.] 
Our governor 's wide awake, he is ; 111 never say nothin' 
agin him nor no man, but he knows what 'a o'clock, he 
does, uncommon. Dickem, Sketches, Talcs, x. 2. 
II. n. A soft felt hat: a name given about 
1850. 
She was one of the first who appeared in the Park in a 
low-crowned hat — a wide-awake. 
II. Eingsley, Ravenshoe, xliii. 
widgeon 
drill so shaped as to form a hole of greater 
diameter than itself: same as broach, 12. 
■wideness (wid'nes), «. [< ME. wydenesse; < 
icide, (I., + -«e»s.] The state or character of 
being wide; breadth; widtli. 
This Temple is 64 Cubytes of wyderusse, and als manye In 
lengthe. MandeviUe, Travels, p. 84. 
wide-spread (wid'spred), a. Diffused or spread 
to a great distance; extending far and wide; 
being general. 
To stand upon such elevated ground as to be enabled to 
take a larger view of the wide-spread and Infinitely diver- 
sified constitution of men and affairs in a large society. 
Brougham. 
There was a very wide-spread desire to hear him, and 
applications for lectures flowed in from all parts of the 
kingdom. 0. W. Holmes, Emerson, vli. 
wide-stretched (yid'streoht), a. Large; ex- 
tensive. 
Wide-stretched honours that pertain . . . 
Unto the crown of France. 
Shak., Hen. V., iL 4. 82. 
■wide-watered (wid' wa-'tferd), a. Traversed or 
bordered by wide waters. 
I hear the far-off curfeu sound, 
Over some wide-watefd shore, 
Swinging low with sullen roar. 
Milton, n PenseroBO, 1. 75. 
As when a lion rushing from his den 
Amidst the plain oj some wide-water'd fen. 
Pope, Iliad, XV. 761. 
Wide-wheret (wid'hwar), adv. [< ME. wydewher, 
icydeicliere (also wydenicher) ; < wide, adv., + 
ic/i^rel.] Far and wide; everywhere; in places 
far apart. 
Wide-where is wist 
How that ther is diversite requered 
Bytwexen thynges lyke, as I have lered. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 404. 
Her dochter was stown awa frae her ; 
She sought for her wide-whare. 
Bosmer Uafmand (Child's Ballads, I. 283). 
Some one . . . would with pleasure exchange on the '^de-WOrk (wid'werk), n. In coal-mining, a 
spot irreproachable black coat and glistening hat for a ^j^ i f working coal, now nearly obsolete, 
shabby shooting-jacket and a wide-awake with a cast of '"V""" "' , i „.^_j ■' ^.t,. C3„„4.i. 'c-„_i,„i.;-„ 
flies round it. ' Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XLIII. 627. 
Wide-awakeness (wid'a-wak'nes), h. The 
character or state of being wide-awake or 
sharp. [Colloq.]_ 
ii. 1. 2.56. ■wide-chapped (wid'chapt), a. Having a wide 
, 2.5:!. 
6. Distended; expanded; spread apart; hence, mouth; wide-mouthed 
open. 'I'lie wide-chapp'd rascal. Shak., Tempest, i. 1. 60 
Against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the wide-gab ( wid'gab), n. The angler or fishing- 
tongue? Isa. Ivii. 4. frog, Lophius piseaiorius. Also widc-(jap, wide 
(/ape, wide-gut. 
ide" 
space ; 
I,ooking wistfully with wide blue eyes. 
Tennyson, Morte d'Arthur, 
7. Apart or remote from a specified point; 
distant ; hence, remote from the direct line or 
object aimed at ; too far or too much to one 
side; deviating; errant; wild: as, a iCiVte arrow 
in archery; a tcide ball in cricket. 
Many of the fathers were tar inde from the understand- 
ing of this place. Raleigh. 
For those of both religions propose to go to the place 
[the river Jordan] where Christ was baptized, but happen ■oriHe-mOUthed (wid ' moutht), 
to differ in their opinions, and are three or four miles "*• ^"'""fi: 
mde of each other. ^"'^ moutli. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. i. 32. The little wide-mmith'd heads upon the spout. 
I make the u-ideM conjectures concerning Egypt, and Tennyson, Godiva. 
her shepherd kings. Lamb, Old and New Schoolmaster. Wide-mOUthed salmon, the ScopeHda. 
But all this, tliough not unconnected with our general 'Wideill («i'dn), _('. [< tt'i'rfe, a., + -f)|2.] J, 
See cut under angler. 
■widely (wid'li), adv. 1. In or to a wide degree 
or extent; extensively; far and wide: as, a man 
who is widely known.— 2. Very much; very; 
greatly; extremely: as, two H'jrfe/i/ difl'erent ac- 
counts of an affair.— 3. So as to leave a wide 
at a distance. [Rare.] 
We passed Selinus, . . . 
And widely shun the Lilybajan strand. 
Dryden, .Eneid, iii. 927. 
Having a 
but formerly followed in the South Yorkshire 
coal-fields. It was one of the many varieties 
of pillar-and-stall work. 
widgeon, wigeon (wij'on), «. [Early mod. E. 
also wigion, wygeon ; prob. < ME. "wigeon, < OP. 
vigeon, foundj with the variants ringeon, gin- 
qeon, as a name of the canard siffleur, whist- 
ling duck, or widgeon, formerly Anas fintu- 
lariK, = It. vipione, a small crane, < L. ripio{>i-), 
a kind of small erane. Cf . E. pigeon, ult. < L. 
pipio{n-).^ 1. A duck of the genus Mareca, 
belonging to the subfamily Anatinee. The Euro- 
pean widgeon is M. penelope ; the American is a distinct 
species, M. americana ; each is a common wild-fowl of 
theme, is wide of our immediate purpose. 
De Quincey, Style, iv. 
8t. Amiss; unfortunate; ill; bad; hence, of lit- 
tle avail ; useless. 
It would be u-ide with the best of us if the eye of God 
should look backward to our former estate. 
Bp. Hall, Contemplations, viii. 1. 
9. In phonetics, uttered vvitli a eomjiaratively 
relaxed or expanded condition of the walls of 
the buccal cavity: said by some phonetists of 
certain vowels, "as e, », (>, u, when compared 
with a, e, d, c — To cut a wide swath. See swathi.— 
To give a wide berth to. See fcertft'J, i.- Wide-angle 
lens. Hee lens. =SyTl. W'l'/e, /Jrortd, spacious, large, ample. 
Wide and !n-oad may be synonymous. l)ut broad is generally 
the larger and more emphatic ; a wide river is not thought 
of as so far across aa a broad river. Wide is sometimes 
more applicable to that which is to be passed through : 
as, a wide mouth or aperture. It is another way of stating 
this fact to say that u-ide has more in mind than broad the 
limiting sides of the thing. Wide is also more generally 
applicable to that of which the length is much greater 
than the width, but not to the exclusion of broad. Each 
may in a secondary sense be used of length and breadth ; 
as, broad acres ; a -aide domain. 
II. ". 1. Wideness; breadth; extent. [Ra 
EniptinesB ami the waste it-ide 
Of that abyss. Tennyson, Two X'oices. 
2. In criehcl, a ball tliat goes wide of tlie wicket, 
and counts one against tlic side tliiit is bowling. 
■wide (wid), <idi:. [< ME. nidi , n-y<le, < AS. wiile 
(= a. weit), widely, < wid, wide: see wide, a.] 
triui.i. 1. To make wide or wider; extend in 
breadth; expand: as, to widen a street. 
I speak not these things to widen our differences or in- 
crease our animosities ; they are too large and too great 
already. SliUingfleet, Sermons, I. viii. 
The thoughts of men are widen'd with the process of the 
suns. Tennyson, Locksley Hall. 
He widened knowledge and escaped the praise. 
Lowell, Jeffries Wyman. 
2. To throw open. 
So, now the gates are ope ; . . . 
'Tis for the followers fortune widens them. 
Not for the fliers. Shxik., Cor., i. 4. 44. 
3. In knittiwi, to make larger by increasingthe 
number of stitches : opposed to nairoic. 
II. intrans. 1. To grow wide or wider; en- 
large ; extend itself; expand; broaden. 
Arches widen, and long aisles extend. 
Pope, Temple of Fame, 1. '-'(in. 
( I'er Sigurd widens the day-light. 
William Morris, Sigurd, ii. 
2. In knitting, to increase the number of 
stitches : as, to iriden at the third row. 
] ■widen^t, "('i'. lME.,a,\so widenc,wydeneOiBG. 
witene, witen); < wide, o.] Widely; wide. 
In habite of an hermite vnholy of werkes 
Wcnde I wydene in this world wondres to here 
Piers Plotcman (A), Prol. , 1. 4. 
Widener (wid'nfer), n. One who or that which 
widens; specifically, a form of boring-bit or 
.\incnc.in Widgeon i.Vijrern fintericttnn^- 
its own country, of the migratory and other habits com- 
mon to the Anatinse, breeding mostly in high or even 
hyperborean regions, and flocking in more temperate lat- 
itudes during the winter. They are also known as batd- 
pates, from the white on the top of the head, whistler or 
whisUijig duck, whew, whewer, whim, from their cries, and 
by many local names. 
2. By extension, some or any vrild duck, except 
the mallard : usually with a qualifying term. 
In Shropshire every species of wild duck, with the ex- 
ception of Anas boscas. is called wigeon. 
C. Swaimon, Brit. Birds (1885X p. 156. 
(a) Thegadwall, Chaidelasmus streperus: more fully called 
qray widifeon. See cut under Chaulelasmus. [Southern 
Ibily.) ('(>) The pintail, Dafila acuta • more fully, gray or 
kite-tailed widgeon, or sea-widgeon. See cut under Dafila. 
[Local, U. S.] (c) The wood-duck, Aix sponm: more fully, 
wood-uidqem. See cut under wood-duck. [Connecticut.] 
((f) The ruddy duck, Erimiatura rublda. See cut under 
Erismatura. [Massachusetts.] 
3t. A fool : alluding to the supposed stupidity 
of the widgeon. Compare goose, gudgeon^. 
If you give any credit to this juggling rascal, you are 
worse than simple mdgeons, and will be drawn into the 
net by this decoy-duck, this tame cheater. 
Fletcher (and another\ Fair Maid of the Inn. iv. 2. 
The apostles of this false religion. 
Like Mahomet's, were ass and widgeon. 
S. Butler. Hudibras, I. i. 282. 
