| 释义 |
▪ I. wide, n.|waɪd|
[absol. use of wide a. (OE. wíde did not survive.) Cf. ON. vídd width, widening, víðir the wide sea, the main, f. víðr wide a.]
†1.
a. Width, breadth. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 1646 Couetys, hordan, envie, and pride Has spred þis werld on lenth and wide. Ibid. 1676 A schippe..Seuen score ellen lang and ten, Thrys aght on wyde, on heght fiueten.
†b. on wide: abroad, all around. Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1423 He waytez onwyde, his wenches he byholdes.
2.
†a. The open sea.
b. A wide, extensive, or open space. Now only poet.
[Cf.c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) xcii[i]. 4 Fram wæterstefnum widra maniᵹra; Vulg. a vocibus aquarum multarum. ]
c1320Sir Tristr. 1013 Þai seylden in to þe wide. 1833Tennyson Two Voices xl, The waste wide Of that abyss.
3. Cricket. [Short for wide ball, wide a. 10 a.] A ball bowled wide of the wicket, counting one against the bowler's side.
1846W. Denison Cricket 5 The parties deliver beyond their natural powers; control of the ball is thus lost, and a ‘wide’ is the consequence. 1850‘Bat’ Crick. Man. 46 Rule the [scoring] sheet..with three additional [lines] for wides, byes, and no-balls.
4. to the wide: to the extreme; entirely, utterly. Used in various slang phrs., as blind (broke, dead, out, etc.) to the wide; done to the wide: see do v. 11 e.
1915G. Frankau Tid'apa iii. 19 ‘Blind, blind to the wide.’ It was shaky, his hand on the dipper-bar, As the water slopped over, gurgling, from its Ali-baba jar. 1920Wodehouse Jill the Reckless xiv. 208 Here was a girl who seemed to like him although under the impression that he was broke to the wide. a1936Kipling Something of Myself (1937) vi. 155, I have seen a Horse Battery ‘dead to the wide’ come in at midnight in raging rain. 1946Coast to Coast 1945 29 Now yer broke to the wide—I'd rather yer died. 1958F. C. Avis Boxing Dict. 96 Out to the wide, completely unconscious. 1959L. Lee Cider with Rosie 90 Wake up, lamb... He's wacked to the wide. Let's try and carry him up. 1963M. Duggan in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 97 Honest, simple and broke to the wide.
▪ II. wide, a.|waɪd|
Forms: 1–4 wid, 4–5 (6 Sc.) wyd, 4–6 wyde (4 Sc. vyde, 5 wyyd, wijd, 7 weede), 3– wide. Comp. wider |ˈwaɪdə(r)|, also, with shortened vowel, 1 widdra, 4 wydder, 4–6 widder (5 -ir, -ur); sup. widest |ˈwaɪdɪst|.
[Com. Teut. (wanting in Gothic): OE. wíd = OFris., OS. wîd (MLG. wîd, MDu. wijt, Du. wijd, etc.), OHG., MHG. wît (G. weit), ON. víðr (Sw., Da. vid):—OTeut. *widaz; further relations obscure.]
I.
1. a. Having great extent (esp. horizontally); vast, spacious, ample, extensive, roomy. Obs. exc. as generalized use of sense 5.
Beowulf 1859 Þenden ic wealde widan rices. a900Cynewulf Juliana 9 Wæs his rice brad, wid & weorðlic. c1386Chaucer Prol. 28 The chambres and the stables weren wyde. Ibid. 491 Wyd was his parisshe and houses fer a sonder. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 15 Cristendom was nyh wydder þan þe empere of Rome. c1400Destr. Troy 9481 He woundit þat worthy in his wide þrote. 1535Coverdale Prov. xxi. 9 It is better to dwell in a corner vnder y⊇ house toppe, then with a braulinge woman in a wyde house. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 137 This wide and vniuersall Theater Presents more wofull Pageants then the Sceane Wherein we play in. 16001st Pt. Sir J. Oldcastle v. viii, The wide horrison. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 263 The wide open Places under the Chief Cupuloes of their Buzzars. 1724Ramsay Vision xvii, A wyde and splendit hall. 1847J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. viii. 84 At Iona, or Icolm-kill, in the midst of wide waters. 1871G. Macdonald Wks. Fancy & Imag., Longing iii, O all wide places, far from feverous towns!.. Room! give me room!
b. as a conventional epithet of words denoting an extensive area, esp. the earth and the sea (poet. and rhet.); as an epithet of world, in later use sometimes implying contrast to the privacy or security of one's own home or country. Also (Austral.) the wide brown land, Australia; wide open spaces: see open a. 8 a.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 104 Ac þes wida grund stod deop & dim. c1000ælfric Hom. I. 542 Sume hi wæron..on widdre sæ besencte. c1200Ormin 12117 Off all þiss wide middellærd Þe kinedomess alle. c1205Lay. 112 Eneas þe duc mid his driht folcke Widen iwalken ȝend þt wide water. c1250Gen. & Ex. 60 Ðat was ðe firme morȝen tid, Ðat euere sprong in werld[e] wid. a1300Cursor M. 13702 Þair lagh wald man suld hir stan, In to midward þis temple wide. 13..K. Horn 643 (Harl.) Þe kyng rod on hontynge to þe wode wyde. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. ii. 934 Alle þe world so wyde and brade, Our Lord speciali for man made. 1390Gower Conf. I. 179 Al the wide worldes fame Spak worschipe of hire goode name. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 2 Within thay fellis wyde. 1535Coverdale Ps. ciii[i]. 25 Yee the earth is full of thy riches. So is this greate and wyde see also. 1591Spenser M. Hubberd 135 As we bee sonnes of the world so wide. 1598R. Bernard tr. Terence, Hecyra iv. iv, Shall we rather..leaue him to the wide world? 1622Peacham Compl. Gentl. iv. 35 Turne them out into the wide world with a little money in their purses. 1652Nedham Selden's Mare Cl. 27 The wide Ocean. 1658in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 69 The world being wyde she would not venture her conscience upon a disputable point. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ i. i. §3 These were so fully known to him..that he needed not to go to School to the wide world. 1722De Foe Plague (1756) 141, I shall be turn'd a drift to the wide World. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes vi, The coarse and bloated faces..have counterparts..all the wide world over. 1844Kinglake Eothen xv, A shout that tore the wide air into tatters. 1847Buckstone Flowers of Forest iii. vii, No, no—not for the wide wide world. 1863Kingsley Water-Babies iii, Tom thought nothing about what the river was like. All his fancy was, to get down to the wide wide sea. 1914D. Mackellar Witch Maid 29 Her beauty and her terror—The wide brown land for me. 1934J. & G. Mackaness (title) The wide brown land. 1973Australian 4 May 11 Migrants are staying away in droves from the widest and brownest part of this wide, brown land.
c. Of a garment or piece of dress: Capacious; large and loose. Obs. as a specific sense, exc. dial. in wide coat, a great-coat, overcoat.
a1225Ancr. R. 56 Nu cumeð forð a feble mon, & halt him þauh heihliche, ȝif he haueð enne widne hod & one ilokene cope. c1386Chaucer Monk's Prol. 61 Why werestow so wyd a Cope? 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xix. 271 Thenne hadde ich wonder of hus wordes and of hus wide cloþes. c1450Mirk's Festial 196 His cloþes were lompurt, and scho wold haue amende hom, but scho myght not, for þay wern so wyde. 1511Acc. Ld. High. Treas. Scot. IV. 197 To be the King ane wyd doublete fra Maistir Johne of Murray. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 256 And there the snake throwes her enammel'd skinne, Weed wide enough to rap a Fairy in. 1609J. Davies Humour's Heaven i. iv, Poliphagus a sute of Satten ware, Made wide and side. 1825Brockett N.C. Gloss., Wide-coat, an upper or great coat.
2. transf. Extending over or affecting a large space or region; far-reaching, extensive. Chiefly poet.
a1000Cædmon's Satan 189 Þæs ðe ic ᵹeþohte adrifan drihten of selde,..sceal [ic] nu wreclastas settan sorhᵹceariᵹ siðas wide. a1300Cursor M. 24991 He es tald alsua o sight sa wide, Þat fra his sight mai naman hide. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. ix. 23 They [sc. the winds]..tosse the deepes, and teare the firmament, And all the world confound with wide vprore. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 660 He [sc. a snake] rages in the Fields, and wide Destruction threats. 1818Keats Endym. ii. 307 O woodland Queen,..Where dost thou listen to the wide halloos Of thy disparted nymphs? 1841James Corse de Leon i, A turn where they could obtaine a wider view. 1859Hawthorne Marble Faun xxxiii, After wide wanderings through the valley [etc.].
b. Coal-mining. (See quot. 1883, and cf. wide adv. 1 c.)
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, Wide Work. A South Yorkshire system (now nearly obsolete) of working coal. Sets of short stalls or banks, 7 or 8 yards in width, forming a line of faces about 60 yards, were carried to the rise, about 3 or 4 feet of coal being left between each bank, the main road pillars being subsequently extracted. 1904Times 23 May 7/6 Men engaged on ‘wide’ work were paid yardage to which they were not entitled.
†3. Great (in various non-physical senses). Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 2200 Þis nembrot wit his mikel pride Wend to wyrk wondres wide. Ibid. 20030 For ai þe mar i soght to sai, Þe widder suld i find þe wai. Ibid. 23104 Wreches stad in wa ful wide. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 403 Now by-gynneþ..my grace to growe ay wydder and wydder. a1400–50Wars Alex. 1970 For wella wide ware þe wele,..Bathe þi glorie & þi grace, þi gladnes in erthe, Miȝt þou þe marches of Messedoyne mayntene þi-selfe. c1560A. Scott Poems xxxvi. 62 Lowse thow my lippis, that tyme and tyd I may gif to the lovingis wyd.
4. fig. Having a large range; comprising, affecting, applying or relating to a great number or variety of persons, cases, subjects, points, etc.; extensive, largely inclusive; (of a word or term) having a large extent of meaning: = broad a. 10.
Common since 1800.
1534Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. D 4, Therfore ryseth the large and wyde prayse by rhetoriciens of Marathon [orig. Hinc rhetorum campus de Marathone]. a1600Montgomerie Misc. Poems xliii. 35 So wyd thy word does waxe That the immortall maks. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. ii. 77 These perpetual exploits abroad won him wide fame. 1782F. Burney Cecilia iii. iv, I fear the misfortunes of Mr. Belfield have spread a ruin wider than his own. 1797Malone Sir J. Reynolds' Wks. I. p. xxxv, In the historical department [of pictures], he took a wider range. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 106 There is yet a wide field for useful experiment. 1843Ruskin Mod. Paint. I. i. i. ii, I want a definition of art wide enough to include all its varieties of aim. 1856Miss Mulock John Halifax xxxvi, The boy—to whose destination we had no clue but the wide word, America. 1858Mrs. Paul Uncle Ralph xxii, ‘Never is a wide word, Miriam,’ said Ailie. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. i. 13 note, His wide knowledge of ethnography. 1868Nettleship Ess. Browning i. 54 How to use each his own and his mistresses' attributes for the widest good. 1868M. Pattison Academ. Org. 2 The ideas of the wider public. 1895Bookman Oct. 15/1 [His] wide experience as a teacher..and an inspector of schools.
b. Of views or opinions, or transf. of the person holding them: = broad a. 11.
1824Macaulay Athen. Orators ⁋22 States have always been best governed by men who have taken a wide view of public affairs. 1833Tennyson Two Voices xlii, When, wide in soul and bold of tongue, Among the tents I paused and sung. 1884Spectator 19 Apr. 513/2 Both the High Churchman and the Wide Churchman. Ibid., The Wide Church or High-Church circles.
†c. Vague. Obs. rare.
1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 288 Though his Verses are most Elegant,..yet the description is very wide.
II.
5. a. Having great extent from side to side; large across, or in transverse measurement. (Opp. to narrow.)
Now distinguished from broad in so far as it tends to be restricted to applications in which actual mensuration from point to point is possible or contemplated, and in which there is no implication of superficial extent; hence in certain technical uses (see quots.).
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. vii. 13 Þæt ᵹeat is swyþe wid, & se weᵹ is swiþe rum, þe to forspillednesse ᵹelæt. 11..in Birch Cartul. (1887) II. 207 Ðonon to widan ᵹeate; ðonon to eadulfes mære. a1300Cursor M. 1682 Þu sal..Mak a dor wit mesur wide. Ibid. 8081 Þair muthes wide, þair eien brade, Vn-freli was þair face made. 1375Barbour Bruce iii. 23 Till sum gaiff thai woundis wid. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints iv. (Jacobus) 302 On a bryge, as þai can ryd Our a wattyr, depe and wyd. c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 289 Euery sercle causynge othir Wydder than hym self was. c1440Promp. Parv. 526/1 Wyyd, large yn brede. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 22 Christis woundis wyde. 1632Milton L'Allegro 76 Shallow Brooks, and Rivers wide. 1642Tasman Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1694) 135 Those Men when they walked made very wide paces. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 467 Wide was the wound, But suddenly with flesh fill'd up & heal'd. 1725Pope Odyss. i. 173 A purple carpet spread the pavement wide. 1841Penny Cycl. XIX. 256/2 One of the great recommendations of a wide gauge. 1868Rep. U.S. Comm. Agric. (1869) 416 Making experiments in the cultivation of wheat in wide drilling and thin seeding. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Wide Spade (Whaling), used to cut the blubber in the rough, before mincing. 1888Jacobi Printers' Voc., Wide measures, long and wide measures of type, distinct from narrow or short ones.
b. transf. of the lateral boundaries: Having a wide space between, far apart. (Cf. 7 and 8.)
1840Dickens Old C. Shop i, It runs between green banks which grow wider and wider until at last it joins the broad vast sea.
c. As the final element in comb. with ns. which denote regions, organizations, etc., as world-wide, and country-wide, nation-wide, state-wide (see at first element), in the sense ‘as wide as the―’ or ‘extending throughout the whole―’.
6. Having a specified or particular transverse measurement indicated by a numerical quantity or by a comparison; (so much) across.
971Blickl. Hom. 127 Hwene widdre þonne bydenfæt. a1000Cædmon's Gen. 1307 Fær ᵹewyrc fiftiᵹes wid, ðrittiᵹes heah, þreohund lang elnᵹemeta. c1250Gen. & Ex. 565 Ðat arche was..l.ti elne wid, and .xxx.ti heȝ. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7503 Graunte me..Namore lond, wyd ne syd, Þan y may sprede a boles hyd. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxxvi. 84 A traylyng gowne of twelue yerdes wyde. a1400–50Wars Alex. 1324 Þurȝe þaim he rynnes, And makis a wai wyde enoȝe waynes to mete. c1449Pecock Repr. iii. xi. 347 That these schoon be notabli widdir than the meetenes of hem wolde aske. Ibid., These schoon to be no wijdir than euen meete to hise sones feet. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 210 Had his wesand bene a little widder, He would haue deuoured both hidder and shidder. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. i. 100 'Tis not so deepe as a well, nor so wide as a Church doore. 1663Gerbier Counsel 11 A Bed-chamber..Thirty foot wide. Ibid. 19 Windowes..must be higher then wide. 1842Loudon Suburban Hort. 637 Take half-inch and two-inch wide rods or laths. 1918Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Mar. 152/1 The island is small..and at its widest part about a mile and a half in width.
7. a. (a) Opened widely, expanded; of the arms, stretched widely apart. Now superseded in general use by wide open (see wide adv. 3).
1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 335 Ȝit tuk I neuir the wosp clene out of my wyde throte. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 449 b, That a wyder entrie be not set open to y⊇ Turkes to inuade us. 1607Puritan i. iv. 96 Speake lowe, George; Prison Rattes haue wider eares then those in Malt-lofts. 1611Bible Isa. lvii. 4 Against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? 1667Milton P.L. i. 762 All access was throng'd, the Gates And Porches wide. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 431 The Mares..with wide Nostrils snuff the Western Air. 1707E. Smith Phædra & Hipp. i. 1 She from his wide, deceiv'd, desiring Arms Flew tastless. 1820Keats St. Agnes iv, Many a door was wide. 1822Galt Provost xxxvi. With wide and wild arms, like a witch in a whirlwind. 1867Morris Jason xv. 839 The three..gazed at him with wide eyes wondering.
(b) superl. as quasi-n. in phr. at widest.
1610Shakes. Temp. i. i. 63 Though euery drop of water sweare against it, And gape at widst to glut him.
b. Phonetics. Of a vowel-sound: Pronounced with the tongue relaxed, or with a wider opening between it and some other part of the mouth than the corresponding narrow vowel.
1867A. M. Bell Visible Speech 72 The vowels—whether ‘Primary’, ‘Wide’, or ‘Rounded’—are divided into three classes of palato-lingual formations. 1890[see narrow a. 1 d].
III. 8. Extending far between limits; existing between two things which are far apart, literally or figuratively, as a distance or interval, a distinction or difference.
to give a wide berth to: see berth n. 1.
1589Puttenham Engl. Poesie ii. ix. (Arb.) 96 Bycause your concordes containe the chief part of Musicke in your meetre, their distaunces may not be too wide or farre a sunder. 1611Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 194 The wide difference 'Twixt Amorous, and Villanous. 1746Francis tr. Hor., Epist. ii. ii. 293 The wide Distinction..Between an open, hospitable Man, And Prodigal; the Frugalist secure, And Miser, pinch'd with Penury. 1857Miller Elem. Chem., Org. (1862) i. §2. 49 The wider is the interval between the respective places in the series. 1865Ruskin Sesame ii. §75 There is a wide difference between elementary knowledge and superficial knowledge. 1912Daily Tel. 19 Dec. 2/3 Among foreign railways,..after some wide fluctuations San Paulo finished at a substantial improvement.
†9.
a. Situated a great way off, distant, far; in quot. 1590, held at a distance, not close. Also, situated at a specified distance (const. of = from). Obs.
Only predicative, or following the n.; thus nearly approaching wide adv. 5.
a1400Arthur 552 [He] strenghthed hym on eche syde Wyth Men of contreys ferre & wyde. 1535Coverdale Ps. cii[i]. 12 Look how wyde the east is from the west, so farre hath he set oure synnes from vs. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. viii. 36 His poinant speare he thrust..At proud Cymochles, whiles his shield was wyde. 1597J. Dee Diary (Camden) 59 Calcot in Chesshyre, abowt six myles wide of Chester. 1682O. Heywood Diaries (1885) IV. 76 A place..4 miles wide of St. Albans. 1729Swift Hist. 2nd Solomon Wks. 1841 II. 320 He was to set out..to another part of the kingdom, thirty miles wide of the place appointed. 1854R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. xxxvi, Shortstubble put him on a line as wide of his own wheat as he could.
b. fig. Far, far apart (in nature, character, views, statements, etc.); not in accordance, disagreeing, different; foreign, alien; far from (doing something). Const. from, of. (Often approaching or coinciding with 10 b.) Now rare.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. Pref. **v b, Valerius Maximus and Plinius, in the reportyng of a certain alter[c]acion yt was betwene Cn. Domitius & Lucius Crassus.., how wyde been thei the one from the other. 1545Brinklow Compl. 11 What a cruell lawe is this! how farre wyde from the Gospel, yea from the lawe of nature also. 1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. (1577) G iij b, It seemeth a matter very wide from reason. 1566W. P. tr. Curio's Pasquine in Traunce 9 b, The which things..were al farre wide..from that true & most pure virgin the Lords mother. 1600Marston, etc. Jack Drum's Entert. i. (1601) C 3 b, Those that are farre more yong and wittie, Are wide from singing such a Dittie. 1630Hakewill Apol. (ed. 2) Advts. Zz 2 b, How farre wide the foure most noted doctours of the Westerne Church.. were in the exposition of many passages of holy Scripture. a1700Evelyn Diary 7 Nov. 1691, The relation he gave..was very wide from what we fancied. 1754Hume Hist. Eng. I. Chas. I iii. 199 That rustic contempt of the fair sex, which James affected..was very wide of the disposition of this monarch. 1807Bentham Mem. & Corr. Wks. 1843 X. 423 My own notions..were too wide of the notions prevalent among lawyers. 1812Cary Dante, Parad. viii. 136 Hence befals That Esau is so wide of Jacob. 1871Earle Philol. Engl. Tongue 244 Languages whose development has been wide of ours, as the Hebrew.
c. Situated far apart in a series: spec. in Cards (see quot.).
1897R. F. Foster Complete Hoyle 414 Cards which are likely to form parts of sequences are called close cards, and those which are too widely separated to do so are called wide cards.
10. Deviating from the aim, or from the direct or proper course; missing the mark or the way; going astray. Also const. of († from). (Most commonly predicative, approaching or coinciding with wide adv. 6.)
a. lit.; spec. in Cricket, of a ball bowled too far aside from the wicket for the batsman to strike it (now usually ellipt.: see wide n. 3).
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. i. 135 Wide a' th bow hand, yfaith your hand is out. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 70 If the Shot be both wide and too low. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Wide, when the Biass of the Bowl holds not enough. 1851Lillywhite Guide Crick. 13 The Umpire must take especial care to call..‘Wide Ball’ as soon as it shall pass the Striker. 1853‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. xi, The first ball was ‘wide’. 1854Lever Sir Jasper Carew xl, His guards were all wide, and his eyes unsteady.
b. fig. (a) without prep. (now rare): in early use often = Astray in opinion or belief, mistaken (now expressed by the full phr. wide of the mark). In quot. 1605, perh. Wandering in mind, delirious.
1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer i. (1577) E v b, Whoso heareth him, may.. thinke yt he also with very little a do, might attaine to yt perfection, but when he commeth to yt proofe, shall finde himselfe farre wide. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 140/2 Let vs see if this be well practised, alas, the matter is farre wide [orig. Helas il s'en faut beaucoup]. 1592Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. xi, Tis neither as you thinke, nor as you thinke, Nor as you thinke; you'r wide all. 1605Shakes. Lear iv. vii. 50 Lear. You are a spirit I know, when did you dye? Cor. Still, still, farre wide. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 107 To them that are wide, and strangers to the true light. 1632Massinger Maid Hon. ii. ii, You are wide, the whole field wide. I in my understanding Pitty your ignorance. a1652Brome City Wit v. i, Py. I know your purpose..; you come after the Marriage to forbid the banes... Lin. Good Mrs. Sneakup, you are wide. I come to wish joy to the match. 1687Settle Refl. Dryden 83 He was a little wide there.
(b) Const. from (now rare or obs.), of: esp. in phr. wide of the mark.
Sometimes scarcely distinguishable from 9 b.
1566W. P. tr. Curio's Pasquine in Traunce 34 b, They are so farre wyde from the institution of Christ, & from the truth. 1587Mirr. Mag., Stater i, Of wit and of reason recklesse and wide, That tooke so vppon vs to rule all the land. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. 115 Though I should talke of halfe as manie more, I should not be farre wide of the truth. 1646Sir. T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. vii. 28 How wide he is from truth. 1672W. Walker Parœm. 29 You are quite out of the way; wide of the mark; clearly mistaken;..Tota erras via. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1321 He is wide of the cushion; errat longè. 1711in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 112 A lasting happiness, of which they are wide..thro' want of religion. 1735Berkeley Def. Free-thinking §46 Your Comment must be wide of the Author's meaning. 1747Mem. Nutrebian Crt. II. 25 Sentiments..you think so wide from the duty I should..pay. 1813T. Busby Lucretius II. iv. Comm. p. xv, In his solar images he is not quite so wide from the fact. 1836G. S. Faber Prim. Doctr. Election ii. vi. (1842) 339 Most wide, then, from the mark..is the modern Calvinist. 1846Dickens Cricket on Hearth iii, You had best not interrupt me..till you understand me; and you're wide of doing so. 1848― Dombey xl, These questions..are all wide of the purpose. 1892Sat. Rev. 15 Oct. 442/2 This belief of the French critic is not so very wide of the mark.
†c. Amiss. Obs. rare.
1614Bp. Hall Contempl., Aaron & Miriam, It were wide for vs, if our suites should be euer heard. Ibid., Rahab, It would bee wide with the best of vs, if the eye of God should looke backward to our former estate.
11. a. Going beyond bounds of restraint, propriety, or virtue; † unrestrained, violent (obs.); lax, loose, immoral (now colloq. or slang). Cf. broad a. 6, 8.)
1574Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 395 The Courteour, with wordis wyde, Said ‘I hear nathing bot prouyde, And get now that, and get now this.’ 1656G. Collier Answ. 15 Quest. Pref., Any man that hath not a weak head and a wide conscience. 1902Wister Virginian xiii, Wide females in pink. 1904Daily Chron. 29 Nov. 3/4 Madrid was full of ‘wide’ characters.
b. Going beyond bounds of moderation; excessive, immoderate. (Cf. slang tall, steep.)
1858Greener Gunnery Advts. 2 Producing..guns equal, if not superior, to anything yet produced by any maker whatever. This may be considered a wide assertion, but to prove he does not make it rashly he is prepared to test the fact by a competiton with any maker. 1895Daily News 3 Sept. 7/5 Prices asked are very wide, and are beyond the values that merchants are disposed to give.
c. slang. Wide-awake, cute; shrewd, sharp-witted; (dishonestly) cunning or knowledgeable; skilled in sharp practice; engaging in shady dealings. See also wide boy, sense 12 c below.
1879Macmillan's Mag. Oct. 502/1, I got in company with some of the widest (cleverest) people in London. 1891Daily News 24 Feb. 2/1 Well, she was tipsy; but she was very ‘wide’. 1928E. Wallace Gunner xxviii. 226 You can handle these swells, Danty, and you're wide enough to keep yourself out of trouble. 1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad i. 13 Underworld men and women..refer to themselves as ‘wide people’ or ‘one of us’. They're a colourful, rascally lot these ‘wide 'uns’. 1956T. Huddleston Naught for your Comfort ii. 28 He must become a ‘tsotsi’, a cosh-boy, a wide-guy—because at least there's excitement that way, while it lasts. 1981Event 16 Oct. 101/3 They've never struck me as a bunch of wide-persons.
IV.
12. Comb. a. Parasynthetic, forming adjs. in -ed2 (unlimited in number), as wide-arched, wide-armed, wide-banked, wide-beaked, wide-bellied, wide-branched, wide-brimmed, wide-chapped († wide chopt), wide-handed, wide-hearted, wide-jointed, wide-lapped, wide-legged, wide-lipped, wide-margined, wide-minded, wide-necked, wide-realmed, wide-shouldered, wide-skirted, wide-sleeved, wide-spaced, wide-spanned, wide-streeted, wide-throated, wide-waked, wide-wayed, wide-windowed, etc. b. Rarely with simple ns., forming adjs. in sense ‘having, involving, pertaining or relating to a (or the) wide ―’, as wide-head, wide-row, wide-world. c. Special Combs.: wide-angle a., applied to a lens of short focus, the field of which extends through a wide angle, used for photographing at short range; also in extended use and as n.; wide-aperture a., applied to (an instrument having) an objective lens of large diameter; wide-band a., capable of transmitting or handling signals in a wide frequency band; wide-bodied a., of a large jet aeroplane: having a wide fuselage (cf. jumbo 1 b); also wide-body (usu. attrib.); wide boy slang, one who lives by his wits, often dishonestly; one who engages in petty-criminal activities, a ‘spiv’; cf. sense 11 c; wide-cut a. Oil Industry, involving or produced by fractional distillation over a wide temperature range, or the fraction so obtained (see quots. 1958, 1966); wide-eared a., having wide ears; also in sense 7, having the ears wide open, listening intently; wide-eyed a., having wide eyes; usually in sense 7, having the eyes wide open, gazing intently; also fig.; wide-gab, local Sc. name for the fishing-frog or frog-fish; wide gauge Railways = broad gauge; wide-leafed, -leaved a., having a wide leaf or leaves; transf. of a hat, broad-brimmed; wide-meshed a., of a net: having wide meshes or interstices; (in quots., fig. of a survey); wide receiver Amer. Football, a pass receiver who stands several yards to the side of an offensive formation; cf. flanker n.1 3 d, receiver1 1 c (a); wide-scale a., that occurs on a wide scale; extensive; cf. large-scale adj. s.v. large a. 15 c; wide screen, a cinema screen which presents a wide field of vision in proportion to its height (see quot. 1957); freq. attrib.; † wide-side a. [side a.1], wide and long, capacious; wide-spectrum a., (a) fig., effective against a wide range of organisms; = broad-spectrum s.v. broad a. D. 2; (b) lit., characterized by light of a wide range of wavelengths; wide-wale a., of fabrics, esp. corduroy: broad-ribbed; wide-winged a., having wide wings; flying through a wide space or region (chiefly poet.). See also wide-mouthed, -watered.
1878Abney Photogr. (1881) 204 The next lens..is what is known as a ‘*wide angle’ doublet, in which the separation between the lenses is very small, and their foci considerably shorter... Some of these combinations are made so as to cover a circle whose diameter subtends an angle of 90° from the optical centre. 1897C. M. Hepworth Animated Photogr. xiii. 97 The use of a wide-angle lens..is..abominable in connection with the production of a living photograph. 1947H. Lewis Photogr. Today 53 On analysing my shots..I usually find that 70 per cent. have been taken with a 5 cm. lens, 2 per cent. with a long-focus lens, and the rest with a 3.5 cm. wide-angle lens. 1955Mademoiselle Mar. 113 Oklahoma! is made in ‘fabulous new Todd-ao wide-angle, large-screen process’. 1965C. Forsyte Double Death iii. 22 He kept most of his attention on the special wide-angle driving mirror that raked the traffic on his tail. 1974J. Irving 158-Pound Marriage i. 11 Forget the wide-angle. (I see Edith and Severin Winter only in close-ups.) 1983Which? Sept. 388/3 A zoom lens lets you move in from a wide-angle view to a closer shot.
1958Amateur Photographer 31 Dec. 914/2 For colour work a *wide-aperture lens is invaluable. 1966D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. i. 57 With a wide-aperture telescope..there is no loss of brightness on magnification.
1820Keats Lamia ii. 121 The glowing banquet-room shone with *wide-arched grace.
1869J. R. Lowell Poet. Works (1912) 415 The friend of all the winds, *wide-armed he towers. 1898G. Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 27 With view of wide-armed heaven.
1935Wireless Engineer XII. 251/1 A means of examining the behaviour of *wide-band amplifiers when supplied with transient input waves. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset iv. 42 Although this ideal is not fully realised the fact remains that very acceptable results can be obtained using either wide-band (trichromatic) or narrow-cut filters. 1982Economist 6 Mar. 25/2 The government wants Britain's cities to be cabled quickly with wideband cable.
1903Kipling Five Nations 73 Beside *wide-banked Ouse.
1807J. Barlow Columbiad iii. 131 The *wide-beak'd hawk, that now beholds me die, soon with his cowering train my flesh shall tear. 1921D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 30 An enormously wide-beaked mouth.
1921W. de la Mare Veil 6 Dipped the *wide-bellied boat. 1980Jrnl. R. Soc. Med. LXXIII. 7 A wide-bellied, ungainly but functional ambulance.
1970Times 4 Sept. (Aviation Suppl.) p. i/4 About {pstlg}200m. is being requested to get the proposed BAC 3-11 *wide-bodied, 250-seater subsonic airliner off the ground. 1983Times 12 Feb. 20/8 Western airlines..were not allowed to fly wide-bodied jets such as the Airbus into Moscow until the Russians had developed their own Il 86.
1968Flight Internat. 14 Nov. 777/1 BAC foresees a demand for standards matching the high-capacity *wide-body aircraft of the long-haul routes on short/medium-haul routes. 1979T. Gifford Hollywood Gothic (1980) xxx. 308 The wide-bodies slid down..into the bustle of Los Angeles International Airport. 1983Listener 9 June 6/2 Only two companies are now producing wide-body airliners.
1937R. Westerby Wide Boys never Work 232 Jim was turning, or had already turned, into a Smart Aleck, a *Wide Boy, a despiser of the Mugs who worked. 1947People 22 June 5/3 It seems the wide boys are trying to muscle in and buy these dogs to put against one another in private fights. 1952‘J. Tey’ Singing Sands iv. 57 He was a wide boy. Wide boys don't want trouble. 1960V. Gielgud To Bed at Noon iii. i. 159 Blackmailed—for the murder? Not even the widest of the local wide-boys could have got on to it. 1976J. O'Connor Eleventh Commandment iii. 38 All the wide boys thought I had gone mad when they saw me in khaki.
1819Scott Ivanhoe i, Short-stemmed, *wide-branched oaks.
1918J. W. Gerard Face to face with Kaiserism xv. 180 An actress who wore a *wide-brimmed hat.
1610Shakes. Temp. i. i. 60 This *wide-chopt-rascall.
1958Chambers's Techn. Dict. 1027/2 *Wide-cut fuel.., low octane petrol (gasoline) obtained from wide-cut distillation used in turbojets in order to conserve kerosene. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. X. 54/2 Petroleum is separated by distillation into fractions designated as (1) straight-run gasoline..; (2) middle distillate..; (3) wide-cut gas oil, which boils at about 345–540°C,..and (4) residual oil. 1982Fuelling Aviation (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co. Ltd.) 5/2 The military wide-cut fuel is called JP-4 and this is the major fuel for the airforces of the world.
1684Lond. Gaz. No. 1976/4 A black Coach Mare.., a little *wide Eared. 1865Kingsley Herew. iv, The boys listened, wide-eyed and wide-eared.
1788Cowper Gratitude 11 This wheel⁓footed studying chair,..*Wide-elbow'd, and wadded with hair.
1853Tennyson in Ld. T. Mem. (1897) I. 369 The *wide-eyed wonder of a babe has a grandeur in it. 1855Kingsley Heroes, Argon. i. 80 The boy listened wide-eyed. 1894Forum (N.Y.) Feb. 717 Madison's..wide-eyed prudence in counsel. 1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 109 The human soul is fated to wide-eyed responsibility In life. 1983L. Deighton Berlin Game ix. 95 You ask him all those wide-eyed innocent questions about making profits from cheap labour.
1808Neill in Mem. Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. (1811) I. 548 L[ophius] piscatorius... Frog-fish... In the North Isles of Scotland, it is..termed the *Wide-gab, the mouth being hideously large. 1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 269 The Fishing Frog. Angler. Sea Devil. Wide Gab. Scotland.
1841*Wide gauge [see wide a. 5 a]. 1982S. G. Duff Parting of Ways iv. 43 We all boarded the train for Moscow, changing onto the wide-gauge railway at the Soviet frontier.
1600Breton Pasquil's Foole's-cappe Wks. (Grosart) I. 20/2 In the aime of Wisdomes eye, *Wide handed Wits will euer shoote awry.
1870Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 371 The *wide-head oaks.
1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! viii, The old Anglo-Norman teachableness and *wide-heartedness. 1917Blackw. Mag. Nov. 677/1 Ladies..narrow in their interests,..but wide-hearted.
1874J. H. Parker Introd. Gothic Archit. i. i. (ed. 4) 11 *Wide-jointed masonry is a usual characteristic of the eleventh century in England and Normandy.
1680Lond. Gaz. No. 1527/4 Open *wide-kneed Breeches.
1856J. G. Whittier Poet. Works (1898) 353/1 Pacific rolls his waves a-land, From many a *wide-lapped port and land-locked bay. 1928Blunden Japanese Garland 19 Fine fields, wide-lapped, whose loveliest-born Day's first bright cohort finds.
1779P. Freneau House of Night in U.S. Mag. Aug. 356 A *wide-leaf'd table stood on either side. 1855Motley Dutch Rep. vi. vii. (1866) 894 He wore a wide-leaved..hat of dark felt. 1894S. Weyman Man in Black ix, A dark, sallow man,..with a wide-leafed hat.
1938R. Graves Coll. Poems 28 The *wide-legged robin with his breast aglow.
1837Dickens Pickw. xxxviii, Those *wide-lipped crystal vessels..in which chemists..measure out their liquid drugs.
1889O. Wilde in Fortn. Rev. Jan. 43 Book-bindings, and early editions, and *wide-margined proofs.
1938Dialect Notes VI. 626 Professor A. H. Marckwardt..has begun a *wide-meshed survey of the Great Lakes region and the Ohio River valley. 1980English World-Wide I. i. 28 Unfortunately..his survey is even more wide-meshed than Orton's.
1883A. Barratt's Phys. Metemp. Pref. p. xx, In politics his sympathies were liberal and *wide-minded. 1914Tollinton Clement of Alex. II. xx. 273 Wide-minded teachers, who have the power to discern affinities and to greet the ally in disguise.
1880J. Dunbar Pract. Papermaker 69 A *wide-necked glass-stoppered bottle.
1725Pope Odyss. xiii. 506 At his side a wretched scrip was hung, *Wide-patch'd, and knotted to a twisted thong.
1838Mrs. Browning An Island ix, *Wide-petalled plants.
1968Redskins 17 Nov. 77/3 Depth at *wide receiver is strong, too, in rookie Dennis Homan. 1981Washington Post 8 Apr. d 1 We will have to take the best athlete available... That could be an offensive lineman, a running back or a wide receiver.
1821Cobbett Rur. Rides 9 Nov. (1885) I. 28 The advantages of the *wide-row culture.
1958G. Lienhardt in Middleton & Tait Tribes without Rulers 108 There was little *wide-scale co-operation against the common enemies. 1980Daily Tel. 26 May 6/7 By confining the emergency arrangements as far as possible to the Bristol line, BR has avoided widescale timetable changes.
1931Ann. Reg. 1930 ii. 48 The *Wide Screen is still only a matter for experiment, as standardisation has not yet been achieved. 1932Ibid. 1931 47 The ‘Wide Screen’ invention, though perfected, was not offered to the public by the big producing concerns, seeing that it would involve the studios in huge expenditure. 1953Manch. Guardian 13 Aug. 4/7 Hollywood..had decided to coast for the present on a compromise between 3-D and Cinemascope—namely on the less spectacular development known as Wide Screen. 1957Encycl. Brit. XV. 862/1 Basically ‘wide screen’ means any departure from the screen proportions fixed by Edison and his contemporaries at 4 to 3 (or 1·33 to 1); i.e., three units high for every four wide... If the aspect ratio were to be changed there was only one practical way—screens would have to be wider. 1967H. Harrison Technicolor Time Machine (1968) iii. 27 An accurate, full-length, wide-screen, realistic, low-budget, high-quality historical. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 16 Oct., Imagine, right before your eyes on the wide screen, the stern of the Titanic..comes shooting out of the water as if the projector had been reversed.
1935Kipling Two Forewords 19 But thou, O Nakhoda, art young and *wide-shouldered. 1973T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 127 A few women in clinking boots and wide-shouldered swagger coats, but no children.
1606Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. ii. Magnificence 266 Glory..Her *wide-side Robes..All Story-wrought with bloudy Victories.
1605Shakes. Lear i. i. 66 Champains rich'd With plenteous Riuers, and *wide-skirted Meades. 1838Dickens O. Twist xxxvii, The coat was wide-skirted.
c1590Greene Fr. Bacon xi. 129 A *wide sleeued gowne. 1926D. H. Lawrence David viii. 63 Takes off striped coat, or wide-sleeved tunic. 1980Catal. Fine Chinese Ceramics (Sotheby, Hong Kong) 214 A Jade Carving of a lady wearing a wide-sleeved robe.
1665R. Brathwait Comm. Two Tales (1901) 62 She was gap-tooth'd, or *wide-spaced. 1889Pall Mall Gaz. 30 Aug. 3/2 Wide-spaced houses, beautiful gardens.
a1878Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) I. 65 *Wide-spanned arches.
1959S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. Eye (ed. 13) xv. 175 One of the *wide-spectrum antibiotic drugs such as the tetracyclines. 1972Country Life 25 May 1351/1 The farmer uses..a wide-spectrum weedkiller, which is a mixture of chemicals designed to control a whole range of weeds. 1977J. L. Harper Population Biol. Plants x. 321 They inserted wide-spectrum fluorescent tubes between the rows of a close canopied crop of soyabeans. 1982Sci. Amer. Mar. 98 Snakes of two families can detect and localize sources of infrared radiation. Infrared and visible-light information are integrated in the brain to yield a unique wide-spectrum picture of the world.
1868M. Collins Sweet Anne Page III. 187 *Wide-streeted Troy.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Papado, *wide throated. a1627Middleton Mayor of Quinb. i. i, Will that wide-throated Beast, the multitude, Never leave bellowing? 1791Cowper Iliad x. 8 Wide-throated war calamitous.
1856J. G. Whittier Poet. Works (1898) 52/2 With steeds of fire and steam, *Wide waked Today leaves Yesterday behind him like a dream.
1957M. R. Picken Fashion Dict. 374/2 *Wide-wale serge, serge with broad diagonal weave. 1980L. Birnbach et al. Official Preppy Handbk. 98 Wide wale corduroy pants.
1848Buckley Iliad 23 The *wide-wayed city of the Trojans.
1869J. R. Lowell Poet. Works (1917) A life *wide-windowed, shining all abroad, Or curtains drawn to shield from sight profane. 1970Daily Tel. 30 Apr. 17 A wide-windowed bar parlour.
1818Shelley Hom. Moon 3 Muses..Sing the *wide-winged Moon! 1848Bailey Festus (ed. 3) 250 The wide-winged wind. 1871Tennyson Last Tourn. 423 The wide-wing'd sunset of the misty marsh. 1884J. G. Wood in Sunday Mag. May 307/2 Wide-winged as they are, the Locusts are very feeble in the air.
1851Ruskin Stones Ven. I. App. xv. 385 He [sc. Rubens] has neither cloister breeding nor boudoir breeding,..but he has an open sky and *wide-world breeding in him.
Add:[IV.] [12.] [c.] wide area network Computing, a communications network similar to a local area network (s.v. *local a. 2 d) but having longer communications links, typically between buildings or different sites.
1983Financial Times 11 Apr. iii. p. xix/1 Eventually, local area networks will be expected to spread over much larger areas.., with many miles..separating computer users. In computer jargon, networks that become *wide area networks, or WAN's. 1988Computer Weekly 1 Sept. 10/3 DEC to DEC links across a wide area network will use the Microserver with new Dec-router software.
wideout Amer. Football = wide receiver.
1978Washington Post 28 Nov. b6/5, I was looking forward to it, because we had switched to two *wideouts on offense and I just didn't have the speed for that. 1987Gridiron Pro! No. 5. 18/1 Wideout Jerry Rice sparkled with six passes for 154 yards, including one for a 66-yard TD.
▸ wide game n. (a) (esp. in the Scout movement) any outdoor game played over a wide area and involving a large number of participants; (b) Sport (chiefly Rugby Football), a style of play that makes use of the full width of a pitch.
1938Iowa Recorder 23 Nov. 6/1 The afternoon was spent in pacing and mapping practice, ‘*wide game’ period, proper use of knife, hatchet, cooking aids and types of fires. 1985Times 25 Nov. 25/3 Scottish controlled the match by winning most of the loose ball, and they played the wide game, knowing the risks were minimal against this raw opposition. 1999Scouting Mag. Nov. 15/1 Even such things as camp fires, wide games and community projects are very difficult [in Saudi Arabia]. 2004Mirror (Nexis) (Sc. ed.) 24 Aug. 58 Player boss Souness controversially decided to chop four yards off either touchline in a bid to stop Kiev..playing their wide game.
▪ III. wide, adv.
Forms: 1– wide, (3 weide), 3–4 wid, 4–6 wyde, (4 Sc. vyde), 5 (6 Sc.) wyd.
[OE. wíde = OS. wîdo (MLG., MDu. wîde, Du. wijd), OHG. wîto (MHG. wîte, wît, G. weit), ON. víða (Sw., Norw. vida): advb. f. OE. wíd, etc. wide a.]
= widely, in various senses.
In modern texts freq. illogically hyphened to a pple.
1. a. Over or through a large space or region; so as to reach or affect many or various places or persons; far abroad. Chiefly poet. (superseded in prose by far and wide: see b).
Beowulf 1403 Lastas wæron æfter waldswaþum wide ᵹesyne. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 7 Mann-cwealmas beoð & hungras wide ᵹeond land. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 87 He wandrede wide, weruende longe, sechende him oðer stede. c1205Lay. 25662 Þet lond he weste wide. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 921 We beþ men wide idriue aboute Fram contreie to contreie. 13..K. Alis. 7118 (Laud MS.), His Marshal Tholomeu Þat many Prince wyde kneu. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 98, I wiste neuere..Man þat with hym spake, as wyde as I haue passed! 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 399 He..sprad þe endes of his kyngdom wydder þan dede his fader. c1400Parce Michi 183 in 26 Pol. Poems 148 In salt see I sayled well wyde. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 45/16 Quhair ance it fixis the rute it spredis the selfe sa braid and wyde, that [etc.]. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. vi. 247 Thence horsing thir Foot, diffus'd far wider thir outragious incursions. 1726–46Thomson Winter 801 There..Wide roams the Russian exile. 1740Akenside Ode, On Winter-Solstice v, Each hov'ring tempest..Which now wide-threat'ning loads the sky. 1831Wordsw. Yarrow Revisited 9 Grave thoughts ruled wide on that sweet day. 1889Swinburne Poems & Ball. Ser. iii. Jacobite's Exile xiv, On Keilder-side the wind blaws wide.
b. in phr. far and wide (rarely wide and far); † wide and side (see side adv.1 1).
a900O.E. Martyrol. 10 June 94 He..ferde..feorr ond wide ᵹeond middanᵹeard. c900tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. x, Wæron þas wundor feorr & wide ᵹemæred. a1000Andreas 1637 Þa ᵹesamnodon..weras..wide & side. c1200–[see side adv.1 1]. a1250Owl & Night. 710 (Jesus MS.) Þu axest me..[I]f ich con eny oþer dede Bute syngen in sume tyde & bringe blisse veor & wyde. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1256 Fro ðe riche flod eufrate, Wid and fer to ðe rede se. c1400St. Alexius 161 (Cotton MS.) Hys Fader send bothe fer and vyde Messengers on euery syde. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 196 b, They distroye the countrie with fyre farre & wyde. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 91 That word, broad,..added to the Goose, proues thee farre and wide, a broad Goose. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 133 Thir Legions..Scout farr and wide into the Realm of night. 1761Gray Fatal Sisters 60 Far and wide the notes prolong. 1813Scott Rokeby v. x, Their vassals wander wide and far [:war]. 1828Southey Ess. (1832) II. 434 Multitudes..assemble, coming from far and wide. 1862H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xix, Though they scoured the country far and wide.
c. Coal-mining. (See wide a. 2 b.)
1904Times 23 May 7/6 Payment was by tonnage raised when working ‘wide’—i.e., on the face of the seam.
2. a. With a large space or spaces between; at a wide interval or intervals; far apart or asunder; in quot. 1481, with ‘wide’ or long steps. (Cf. 5.)
a1000Wife's Compl. 13 Þæt hy todælden unc þæt wit ᵹewidost in woruldrice lifdon. a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud) an. 1012 Þa to ferde se here wide swa he ær ᵹegaderod wæs. a1240Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 201 Hwi ne worpe ich me bi-tweonen þeo ilke ermes so swiðe wide to-spredde and i-opened? 1481Caxton Reynard xxxix. (Arb.) 105 The wulf stode wyder than reynard dyde and ofte ouertoke hym. 1684Burnet tr. More's Utopia ii. 68 Where the Towns lie wider, they have much more Ground. 1727A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xii. 136 The Churches being built wide from one another. 1820Keats Lamia ii. 178 A sacred tripod..Whose slender feet wide-swerv'd upon the soft..carpets. 1861Reade Cloister & H. i, But when Elias whispered ‘Sit wider!’ says she, ‘Ay! the table will soon be too big for the children.’ 1885Manch. Exam. 22 June 5/3 Their fields of activity are so wide apart.
b. Of a horse: With the legs apart: opp. to near adv.2 11.
1680Lond. Gaz. No. 1557/4 A Bright Bay Gelding..Walks and Gallops wide behind. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 40 A Horse that goes wide before, and near behind. Ibid. 63 He should stand pretty wide behind, and near before.
c. Loosely asunder; so as not to remain close or in contact.
1784Cowper Task i. 567 The sportive wind blows wide Their flutt'ring rags, and shows a tawny skin. 1819Shelley Cyclops 66 Shaking wide thy yellow hair. 1833Tennyson Lady of Shalott iii. v, Out flew the web and floated wide.
3. With a wide or broad opening; esp. with open vb. or adj. = fully; to the full extent; with fling, fly, set, etc. (in ref. to a door, gate, or the like) = wide open (coinciding with the predicative use of wide a. 7).
With wide open cf. Du. wijd open, G. weit offen, ON. víðopnir name of the hall of Hel.
c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxviii[i]. 131 Muð ic ontynde minne wide. c1220Bestiary 506 Ðanne him hungreð he gapeð wide. a1400–50Wars Alex. 2142 Werpis þam vp..& wyde open settis. c1400Siege Jerus. (E.E.T.S.) 22/389 A dragoun..Wydegapande,..gomes to swelwe. c1450Cursor M. 18125 (Laud MS.) Opyn your yates ye prynces wyde. 1535Coverdale Ps. lxxx[i]. 10 Open thy mouth wyde, & I shal fyll it. 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 214 This is a strange repose, to be asleepe With eyes wide open. 1718Pope Iliad xv. 813 The Scene wide-opening to the Blaze of Light. 1727–46Thomson Summer 1145 Wide-rent, the clouds Pour a whole flood. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. i. ii, The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide. 1824Byron Juan xvi. cxvii, The door flew wide. 1854Patmore Angel in Ho., Betrothal 18 The windows, all wide open thrown. 1895Rider Haggard Heart of World xvi, The doors were flung wide. 1909Stacpoole Pools of Silence xix, [Elephants] with trunks swung up, ears spread wide.
4. wide open.
†a. (Of a person): Stretched at full length, esp. on the back. Obs.
13..Northern Passion (1913) I. 187/1604 A token ihesu..And leiden him wid opene on þe rod. a1440Sir Degrev. 335 He laf slawe..Forty score..Wyd opene one here bake. 14..Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 607/43 Resupinus, wyde ope. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 254 He thus lyenge wyde open, & they goynge ouer hym & bestrydynge hym. 1551T. Wilson Logic D vj b, Whan a mans body is in any wyse placed, as to lie a syde, to stande vpright, to sitte, to leane, to lye grouelyng, to lye wyde open.
b. Boxing, etc. Fully exposed to assault; unprotected, off one's guard. Freq. fig., esp. in phr. to leave (lay, etc.) (oneself) wide open.
1915E. Corri 30 Yrs. Boxing Referee 150 Johnny Summers..in an unguarded moment, left himself wide open and encountered one of the most decisive knock-out punches I ever saw. 1941B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? i. 14 You never find me going in for favors... It leaves you wide open. 1948‘N. Shute’ No Highway vi. 148 Honey lays himself wide open to that sort of thing. 1966‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive iv. 42 One fine day he would catch me wide open and slam me down.
c. transf. Of an issue, case: not circumscribed or prejudiced by conditions; unrestricted (in its implications, effects, etc.); not resolved or decided; spec. of a police investigation.
1963‘J. Melville’ Burning is Substitute iii. 51 Charmian suddenly had the feeling that this affair..was wide open, could reach anywhere. 1970Daily Tel. 10 July 19 The fate of Penguin Publishing Company is still wide open. 1973J. Thomson Death Cap iii. 41 They're the only people who so far have entered the case... As far as I'm concerned, it's still wide open. 1982C. Aird Last Respects xiii. 137 It's [sc. a murder enquiry] what you might call wide open still... You'll have to look on it as a challenge.
5. At (to, from) a (great, or specified) distance; far, far away, far off; (so far) away or off. Now only dial.
Beowulf 1588 Hra wide sprong. a1250Owl & Night. 288 Ich wende from heom wide. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 5 White rokkes aboute þe clyues of þe see þat were i-seie wide [L. a longe apparentibus]. 1572Satir. Poems Reform. xxxi. 176 Wandering wyde fra this countrie Amang all vther Natiounis. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 34 A little wyde There was an holy Chappell edifyde. 1623J. Taylor (Water P.) New Discov. B 1, A Towne call'd Goreing, stood neare two miles wide. 1690Temple Misc. ii. ii. 57 The Chineses: a People, whose way of thinking, seems to lie as wide of ours in Europe as their Country does. 1693Plot in Miscell. Cur. Subj. (1714) 44 His Ships..lying above a Mile and half wide off the Town of Sandwich. 1756Washington Lett. Writ. 1889 I. 391 Fort Cumberland lying..wide of all other forts. 1857Hawthorne Engl. Note-bks. (1870) II. 197 Not only in this district, but wide away. 1859Meredith Juggling Jerry iv, I was a lad not wide from here.
6. At a distance to one side; aside from the aim, or from the direct or proper course; so as to miss the mark or the way; astray. Also const. of († from). Cf. wide a. 10.
a. in physical sense. spec. in Cricket, out of reach of the batsman.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 101 To shoote wyde and far of the marke. Ibid. 102 Than..those be wiser men, which couete to shoote wyde than those whiche couete to hit the prycke. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 5 Then bad the knight his Lady..to an hill her selfe with draw aside,..She him obayd, and turnd a little wyde. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 494 Pyrrhus at Priam driues, in Rage strikes wide. 1639Fuller Holy War i. xvii. 27 In bowling they must needs throw wide, which know not the green or alley whereon they play. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 97 A little wide of the way to the Right Hand, I saw the Church. 1799E. Du Bois Piece Fam. Biog. II. 3 The doctor..had escaped by going a little wide of the ass. 1833J. Nyren Yng. Crick. Tutor 24 A..ball..pitched a little wide of the off stump. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, Johnson the young bowler is getting wild, and bowls a ball almost wide to the off. 1859Lever Dav. Dunn xlix, He shot with the pistol, he fenced, he whipped the trout stream... He only hit the bull's-eye once in three shots—he fenced wide—a pike carried off his tackle. 1876Coursing Calendar 27 Well Park,..raced past Skedaddle for first turn, and went wide. 1899Rider Haggard Swallow xviii, [He] fired at him, but the ball went wide.
b. fig. (or in fig. context); † in early use often = so as to err, mistakenly (cf. wide a. 10 b).
1534More Comf. agst. Trib. i. 1151/2 Nay Cosyn,..there walke you somewhat wide, for ther you defende your owne righte for your temporal auayle. 1535Coverdale Bible Prol., Many wryters..seldome made mencyon of y⊇ scripture of the Byble: & though they some tyme aleged it, yet was it done..so wyde from y⊇ purpose, that a man maye well perceaue, how that they neuer sawe the oryginall. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 269 Cæsar auouched hym to had dooen ferre wyde. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxvii. ii, Thou their guide Go'st never wide From truth and righteousnes. 1586Day Engl. Secretorie i. (1625) 80 You reckon too wide;..you are too much deceived. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 63 Is my Lord well, that he doth speake so wide? 1610Holland Camden's Brit. 486 If I should fetch it from Gron a Saxon word that signifieth a fenny place, I might perhaps goe wide. a1625Fletcher Captain ii. ii, You hurt not me, Your anger flies so wide. 1677Otway Titus & Berenice i. ii, Thou answerst wide of my desire. 1705tr. Bosman's Guinea 242 This carries me wide from my Subject. 1710Steele Tatler No. 234 ⁋4 To compare our Practice with their Precepts, and find where it was that we came short, or went wide. 1784Cowper Task ii. 810 Vice parries wide Th' undreaded volley [of rusted arrows] with a sword of straw.
7. Comb. with pres. or pa. pples., less commonly with adjs., forming adjs. (unlimited in number), as wide-branching, wide-circling, wide-climbing, wide-consuming, wide-echoing, wide-expanding, wide-extending, wide-gaping, wide-ranging, wide-reaching, wide-resounding, wide-rolling, wide-straddling, wide-stretching, wide-sweeping, wide-wasting, wide-winding, wide-yawning; wide-expanded, wide-extended, wide-flung, wide-opened, wide-stretched; wide-apart, wide-distant, wide-imperial; wide-open a., (a) lit. (see also senses 3, 4); (b) U.S. Of a town: not oppressed by laws or law enforcement. See also wide-awake, -spread, -spreading adjs.; wide-where adv.
1941E. Bowen Look at all those Roses 39 The *wide-apart birch-trees. 1983T. Hughes in Listener 21 Apr. 27/1 They have a chirruppy, chicken-sweet expression With goo-goo starlet wide-apart eyes.
1708J. Philips Cyder i. 481 Her *wide-branching Arms. 1873Howells Chance Acquaintance ii. (1883) 45 An audacious, wide-branching moustache.
a1700Congreve Poems, To the King iii. Wks. 1730 III. 213 Thro' Seas, Earth, Air, and the *wide circling Sky. 1872Blackie Lays Highl. 164 There's room in God's wide-circling arm For all that swear by all the creeds.
1887C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 301 A *wide-climbing shrub.
1742Young Nt. Th. iii. 223 Smoke betrays the *wide-consuming fire.
1750Shenstone Rural Elegance 124 Fame's *wide-echoing trumpet.
1860Pusey Min. Proph. 321 A *wide-expanding knowledge of the enlargement of mankind.
1695Congreve Mourn. Muse 178 Lord of these Woods, and *wide extended Plains. 1708J. Philips Cyder ii. 588 His wide-extended Wings. 1765Museum Rust. IV. 375 With numerous, wide-extended branches. 1831James Phil. Augustus xxxviii, Gazing over the wide-extended view.
1889F. Cowper Captain of Wight 34 The *wide-extending view, over broad pasture and swelling down.
1860Longfellow Wayside Inn i. K. Olaf v. ii, The *wide-flung door.
a1721Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Wks. (1753) I. 71 The *wide-gaping gulph.
1728–46Thomson Spring 56 Such themes as these the rural Maro sung To *wide-imperial Rome.
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. ix. 258 The common notion..has strong and *wide-lying evidence in its favour.
1852Tennyson in Ld. T. Mem. (1897) I. 357 Looking at me with such apparently earnest, *wide-open eyes. 1877Black Green Past. i. 9 They..drew up in front of the wide-open door. 1892Harper's Mag. June 103/1 It is what they call in Montana ‘a wide-open town’. 1975J. Gores Hammett xi. 79 He has been elected three times because the citizens want a wide-open town.
1864Skeat tr. Uhland's Songs, etc. 269 From Heav'n's *wide-opened portals. 1876‘Ouida’ Winter City xii, She could only look at him with wide-opened eyes.
1816Edin. Rev. Sept. 182 This *wide-ranging Intellect was illuminated by the brightest Fancy. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 7 Feb. 76/4 A representative anthology, which is so wide-ranging in its material..that its final effect is rather of confusion than of enlightenment. 1980B. Hill in Beautiful Brit. Columbia Summer 39 The wide-ranging sheep that are one of the island's main farm products provide the source of wool for local weavers.
1856Grote Greece ii. xciv. XII. 346 The..powerful, and *wide-reaching impression.
1726–46Thomson Winter 996 The *wide-resounding plain.
1785T. Dwight Conquest of Canāan xi. 295 *Wide-rolling dust the neighbouring concave fills. 1805Montgomery Ocean i, Thou wide-rolling Ocean, all hail!
1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iv. Captains 945 As..the Grass..Fals at the Foot of the *wide-straddling Mower.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iv. 82 All *wide-stretched Honors, that pertaine..Vnto the Crowne of France. 1742Young Nt. Th. vii. 747 The wide stretcht realm of intellectual woe.
1726–46Thomson Winter 951 *Wide-stretching from these shores... A huge neglected empire. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. lxix, Wide-stretching purposes.
1924Motor 14 Oct. 491 (caption) One of the two *wide-sweeping bankings on the new speedway at Montlhery, near Paris. 1979Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 409/2 Wessex..will therefore not be subjected to wide-sweeping environmental problems.
1674Milton P.L. (ed. 2) xi. 487 *Wide wasting Pestilence. 1814Wordsw. Ode, ‘When the soft hand of sleep’ 145 Wide-wasting Time.
1816Shelley There is no work 28 The *wide-winding caves. a1876M. Collins Pen Sketches (1879) II. 231 O'er earth's wide-winding ways.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 241 His yet *wide-yawning lips. 1598Ibid. ii. ii. iv. 591 Wide-yawning Gulfs.
▪ IV. † wide, v. Obs.
[f. wide a.; cf. ON. víða; OE. wídian app. did not survive.]
trans. To make wide or wider: = widen v. 2; in 2nd quot. to set widely apart.
a1300Cursor M. 8232 Þan dide þe king tilward þat side Þat orchiard al for to wide. c1440Pallad. on Husb. iii. 923 And wide hem so that, though the winde him shake, No drope of oon vntil another take. c1440Promp. Parv. 526/2 Wydyn, or make wyde, dilato.
▪ V. wide
Sc. f. wade v.; var. wede v. Obs.; obs. f. weed. |