wide

Wide is a term used to describe something that extends a great distance from side to side. As an adjective it denotes breadth or spaciousness, while width is the corresponding measurement of that breadth. Width is a one-dimensional dimension perpendicular to length and height, typically expressed in units of length such as meters or inches.

In everyday use, wide applies to physical objects and spaces. Examples include the width of a doorway, a street, a window, or a screen. The width of a fabric roll affects how much material is needed for a pattern and how a garment will fit. In design and engineering, width is a key constraint that influences accessibility, circulation, and function.

In imaging and media, wide often describes perspective and field of view. A wide shot or wide-angle lens captures more of the surrounding environment, providing context and spatial relationships that a narrow view might miss. The term wide is frequently contrasted with narrow or close-up perspectives to indicate breadth.

In sports, particularly cricket, a wide refers to a delivery that lands outside the batsman’s reach, outside the allowed playing area. A wide results in a penalty run for the batting side and an extra ball, and it is not counted as a legal delivery.

Other uses include the adverbial sense of wide, meaning broadly or extensively, as in wide support for a policy. In technology, phrases such as wide-area network (WAN) or wide characters in text encoding reflect the broader sense of breadth conveyed by the term. Wide thus spans physical dimensions, visual framing, and broader conceptual contexts.