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Glite Dictionary
↔️ Making wider 🛣️ A wider section
widening

widening

3 2.7
A change that makes something wider, like a road or gap
  • noun
  • /ˈwaɪdənɪŋ/
translation icon : ampliación
  • The study showed a widening in the gap between rich and poor communities.
  • widening and deepening

In other instances it's been with a widening of the gap between the haves and the have nots.

Examples

  • Today, he sees Los Angeles losing union jobs, and the income gap between the rich and poor widening.

    Academic text (2004)

  • It is the case that there has been a widening income disparity within the US.

  • So that gap is widening year after year.

  • Recent evidence showed a widening of health inequalities in some European countries with generous welfare arrangements.

    Academic text (2013)

  • For nearly 50 years, Europe has been on a course of ever-widening and deepening integration.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The situation was conducive to a widening of the church-state breach.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Such a dichotomy between school curricula and lived experience contributes to student alienation and a widening of the opportunity gap.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The widening of the road will reduce traffic congestion during rush hour.

  • City plans include the widening of several main streets to accommodate more vehicles.

Synonyms

expansion
vswidening
241 3.3

An increase in size, amount, or range

focuses narrowly on side-to-side increase rather than volume or quantity
extension
vswidening
55 3.2

A course or program offered by a college for local people

is about physical side-to-side increase rather than availability or influence
dilation
vswidening
13 6.5

Making an opening larger, for example blood vessels or pupils

is about increasing side-to-side dimension, not only openings
enlargement
vswidening
11 3.3

An increase in size or amount

refers specifically to increasing side-to-side measurement rather than total size
broadening
vswidening
3 3.5

A change that makes something wider or includes more things

is focused on increasing the side-to-side dimension rather than range
dilatation
vswidening
  • Specialized
1 8.7

A widening of a body part, for example the pupil in the eye or the cervix during labour

is the general act of increasing side-to-side size rather than medical

Antonyms

narrowing
8 4.1

Becoming thinner or more limited in range

How Wide

expansion
241 3.3
broadening
3 3.5
widening
3 2.7
narrowing
8 4.1

Surface Forms

widening singular
widenings plural

Morphology

widening = widen (transparent) = wide + en + ing

Formed from the verb 'widen' (wide + -en) with '-ing' producing the noun for the action or result, a directly predictable derivation.

Etymology

Widening comes from the simple word wide meaning 'broad' plus the verb part -en meaning 'make', so widen is 'make wide'. So, widening is the action or result of something becoming more broad.