How to Use widen in a Sentence

widen

verb
  • The city is going to widen the road.
  • They went swimming at a spot where the river widens.
  • Her eyes widened in surprise.
  • The scope of the investigation has widened.
  • They plan to widen the investigation.
  • Just kind of widen that breadth of what the band can be.
    Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 17 July 2022
  • The purchase was meant to widen the bank’s reach to the lower rungs of the wealthy there.
    Fortune, 6 Mar. 2023
  • The window by the kitchen sink was widened to add more light.
    Sarah Yang, Sunset Magazine, 25 Oct. 2023
  • Her eyes widen, and a small smile forms at the corners of her mouth.
    Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2023
  • The gaps appear to widen as the hiring process chugs along.
    Sarah Green Carmichael, Twin Cities, 2 Aug. 2024
  • That feels like what the notion of widening the lens is all about.
    Maya Layne, Vogue, 26 June 2024
  • The project will lengthen and widen the northbound ramp at the exit.
    oregonlive, 29 July 2022
  • That is not fair when widening the lens and looking at his life.
    Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 15 Nov. 2024
  • But the gap between those who have wealth and those who don’t is widening.
    Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 7 July 2023
  • My eyes widen and find Angela’s with the same question.
    Carolyn Wells, Longreads, 19 July 2023
  • The Salmon, widening, seemed almost devoid of fish, and the sky was eerily free of birds.
    Alec Luhn, Scientific American, 19 Dec. 2023
  • Now, Houston should be getting C.J. Stroud back, and the rookie ought to widen that gap.
    Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2023
  • The project would build a new bridge alongside it and widen nearby highways.
    Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland, 18 May 2022
  • The bridge is there, but it has been widened into a modern two-lane highway.
    Emily Zemler, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Sep. 2024
  • An instant later, Donn’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped as his brain clicked.
    Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 15 Apr. 2024
  • But new rules have widened the scope of places where men can be stopped and questioned about their draft status.
    Kostiantyn Khudov, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2023
  • The Chiefs cashed in three plays later with another touchdown pass to widen the lead to eight.
    Jordan Freiman, CBS News, 10 Feb. 2024
  • On the flip side, the performance gap between iPhone 14 Pro and non-Pro models still looks set to widen.
    Gordon Kelly, Forbes, 4 June 2022
  • There’s a moment when the eyes of a child sparkle and widen as a fishing line, tugged taut, begins to sing while rushing from the reel.
    Bryce Millercolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 July 2022
  • The series does start to pick up around the middle of the eight-episode season, as cracks in the girls’ friendship widen into rifts and then chasms.
    Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 July 2022
  • As the body tries to cool down, blood vessels widen, redirecting hot blood from the core of your body toward the surface.
    WIRED, 30 Sep. 2023
  • This drop allows the safeties to widen and create an umbrella look for the offense.
    Lance Reisland, cleveland, 24 Sep. 2022
  • In other words, inflation is still above the Fed’s target of 2%, and the tariffs could widen that gap.
    Jesse Pound, CNBC, 26 Nov. 2024
  • At times, the conversation might widen even further to one nosy tía’s opinions about the bodies of celebrities she’s never met.
    Ella Cerón, Allure, 6 Dec. 2024
  • In time, this could widen the homeownership gap between Black and white families, an Urban Institute analysis suggests.
    Sami Sparber, Axios, 4 Dec. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'widen.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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