{
    "term": "widen",
    "partOfSpeech": "verb",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "verbForms": {
        "presentSimple": {
            "iYouWeThey": "widen",
            "heSheIt": "widens"
        },
        "pastSimple": "widened",
        "pastParticiple": "widened",
        "ingForm": "widening"
    },
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to become wider; to make something wider",
            "sensetop": "widen into somethingwiden outwiden something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Her eyes widened in surprise."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Jasmine's eyes widened with disbelief."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Here the stream widens into a river.",
                    "contextForm": "widen into something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The road gradually widens out.",
                    "contextForm": "widen out"
                },
                {
                    "text": "They may have to widen the road to cope with the increase in traffic.",
                    "contextForm": "widen something"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["considerably", "dramatically", "greatly"],
                "preposition": ["from", "into", "to"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to become larger in degree or range; to make something larger in degree or range",
            "sensetop": "widen something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Another concern is the widening gap between rich and poor."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We plan to widen the scope of our existing activities by offering more language courses.",
                    "contextForm": "widen something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The legislation will be widened to include all firearms."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The gap between rich and poor has widened considerably."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The trade deficit had widened from £26 billion to £30 billion."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adverb": ["considerably", "dramatically", "greatly"],
                "preposition": ["from", "into", "to"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to consider or include a larger range of options or possibilities, especially when searching for something",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "It's time to widen the net in the search for a suitable candidate."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈwaɪdn/",
                "audio": "wi/widen/widen__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈwaɪdnz/",
                "audio": "wi/widen/widens__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈwaɪdnd/",
                "audio": "wi/widen/widened__gb_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈwaɪdnɪŋ/",
                "audio": "wi/widen/widening__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈwaɪdn/",
                "audio": "wi/widen/widen__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈwaɪdnz/",
                "audio": "wi/widen/widens__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈwaɪdnd/",
                "audio": "wi/widen/widened__us_1.mp3"
            },
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈwaɪdnɪŋ/",
                "audio": "wi/widen/widening__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": null
}