Definition of "widen"

widen

/ˈwaɪdən/

verb
third-person singular simple present widens, present participle widening, simple past and past participle widened
1. (intransitive) To become wide or wider.
2. (transitive) To make wide or wider.
  Quotations
  But he still saw his side produce a rousing display which owed much to their lauded prowess from set-pieces, despite Uefa regulations meaning the pitch had to be widened and, in the process, the run-up area for Delap's long throws reduced.
  2011 September 29, Tom Rostance, “Stoke 2 - 1 Besiktas”, in BBC Sport‎
3. (transitive) To let out clothes to a larger size.
4. (transitive) To broaden or extend in scope or range.
  Quotations
  Correspondent Gerardo Arreola interviewed Castro Espín for the Jan. 9, 2006, issue of La Jornada about the move to widen rights for transsexuals.
  2007 August 6, Leslie Feinberg, “Cuba's CENESEX proposes ground-breaking transsexual rights”, in Workers World‎
5. (transitive, programming) To convert to a data type that can hold a larger number of distinct values.