widen

Universal Words verb 1 to become wider; to make sth wider: [V] Her eyes widened in surprise. * Here the stream widens into a river. * [VN] They may have to widen the road to cope with the increase in traffic. 2 to become larger in degree or range; to make sth larger in degree or range: [V] the widening gap between rich and poor * [VN] We plan to widen the scope of our existing activities by offering more language courses. * The legislation will be widened to include all firearms.