adj
Meaning 1
Wide in extent or scope.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- three feet broad
- the broad expanse of ocean
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
broad
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /bɹɔːd/
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Australian, British, New-Zealand, Southern, Standard: /bɹoːd/
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General-American: /bɹɔd/ without the cot–caught merger
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Atlantic-Canada, General-American, cot-caught-merger: /bɹɑd/
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California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Canada: /bɹɒd/
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Scotland: /bɾɔd/
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Wales: /bɾɔːd/
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South-Asia: /brɔɖ/
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South-Asia: /broɖ/ spelling pronunciation
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rhymes with -ɔːd
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CMU ARPABET: B R AO1 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Extended, in the sense of diffused; open; clear; full.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Having a large measure of any thing or quality; unlimited; unrestrained.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Comprehensive; liberal; enlarged.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 5
Plain; evident.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- a broad hint
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 6
General rather than specific.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- to be in broad agreement
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 7
Unsubtle; obvious.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, publishing, writing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 8
Free; unrestrained; unconfined.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 9
Gross; coarse; indelicate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated
Examples
- a broad compliment; a broad joke; broad humour
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 10
Strongly regional.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- She still has a broad Scottish accent, despite moving to California 20 years ago.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 11
Velarized, i.e. not palatalized.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: Gaelic languages
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 12
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 13
A shallow lake, one of a number of bodies of water in eastern Norfolk and Suffolk.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 14
A lathe tool for turning down the insides and bottoms of cylinders.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 15
A British gold coin worth 20 shillings, issued by the Commonwealth of England in 1656.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 16
A kind of floodlight.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: broadcasting, film, media, television
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 17
A playing card.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 18
A prostitute, a woman of loose morals.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: abandons, alley cat, almah, bangtail, Bankside lady, bargirl, bat, beotch, blouze, blowen, blowsabella, brass nail, brasser, brass, broad, business girl, calico queen, callet, cat, chippy, chromo, coaster, cockatrice, cocotte, comfort girl, comfort woman, commoner, Covent Garden nun, creature of the night, croshabell, daughter of joy, dollymop, doxy, drab, Dutch widow, escort, fille de joie, flap, floozie, fornicatrix, frail sister, Fulham virgin, gamester, gay lady, geebag, gillian, gill, girl of the game, girl rented overnight, good-time girl, GRO, hackney, harlot, Haymarket ware, hireling, 'ho, hoer, hoe, hook, hooker, hustler, Japayuki-san, jay, karayuki-san, laced mutton, lady of leisure, lady of light virtue, lady of pleasure, lady of the evening, lady of the game, lady of the night, lightskirt, loose woman, meat puppet, mermaid, minx, mob, moll, mort wap-apace, mot, mud kicker, mud-kicker, mudkicker, musk cat, mutton, nun, nymph of darkness, nymph of the pavé, nymph of the pavement, painted lady, Paphian, party girl, pavement princess, perdita, pimpette, pretty horsebreaker, priestess of Venus, pro skirt, prossie, prossy, pross, prostie, prostitute, prostitutor, prosty, prozzie, prozzy, pro, public woman, pucelle, puella publica, pug, punk, pussygirl, puta, put, quail, quean, quene, quiff, ribibe, scrubber, sex labourer, sex worker, skainsmate, skivvy, slag, slapper, slit, slut, sodomitess, soiled dove, stem siren, stew, street taco, strumpet, succubus, tart, tawaif, thotty, thot, tib, tom, treddle, trick turner, trollop, trug, trull, tweak, vice girl, wanton, wapping dell, wapping moll, wapping mort, wench, whore, woman of easy virtue, woman of ill fame, woman of ill repute, woman of the night, woman of the street, woman of the town, working girl
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 19
A woman or girl.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, dated, slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: babe, baggage, bim, bint, bird, bitch, blone, broad, chick, covess, dame, donna, feme, femme, femoid, frau, frow, gal, gash, gentlelady, ginch, hen, ho, huwoman, lady, maness, mort, mulier, placket, pussy, queen, she, sheila, skirt, squaw, thot, tía, twist, vaginoid, wan, wife, woman, wommon, womon, womxn, womyn, wimmin, cake, colleen, cutty, damoiselle, damsel, elrig, frail, gel, girl, girlie, girly, grill, hottie, lass, lassie, little girl, maggie, maid, maid child, maiden, minoress, miss, missy, moggy, poppet, pucelle, puss, quean, tart, wench, woman child
Antonyms: none provided
adjective
Meaning 20
having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- wide roads
- a wide necktie
- wide margins
- three feet wide
- a river two miles broad
- broad shoulders
- a broad river
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: wide
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 21
showing or characterized by broad-mindedness
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a broad political stance
- generous and broad sympathies
- a liberal newspaper
- tolerant of his opponent's opinions
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: large-minded, liberal, tolerant
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 22
lacking subtlety; obvious
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- gave us a broad hint that it was time to leave
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: unsubtle
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 23
broad in scope or content- T.G.Winner
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- across-the-board pay increases
- an all-embracing definition
- blanket sanctions against human-rights violators
- an invention with broad applications
- a panoptic study of Soviet nationality
- granted him wide powers
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: across-the-board, all-embracing, all-encompassing, all-inclusive, blanket(a), encompassing, extensive, panoptic, wide
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 24
not detailed or specific
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a broad rule
- the broad outlines of the plan
- felt an unspecific dread
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: unspecific
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 25
(of speech) heavily and noticeably regional
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a broad southern accent
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 26
very large in expanse or scope
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a broad lawn
- the wide plains
- a spacious view
- spacious skies
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: spacious, wide
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 27
slang term for a woman
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a broad is a woman who can throw a mean punch
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: woman, adult female
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bher-der.? Proto-Germanic *braidaz Proto-West Germanic *braid Old English brād Middle English brod English broad From Middle English brood, brode, from Old English brād (“broad, flat, open, extended, spacious, wide, ample, copious”), from Proto-West Germanic *braid, from Proto-Germanic *braidaz (“broad, wide”), of uncertain origin. Cognates Cognate with Yola brode (“broad”), North Frisian bread, breeđ, briad, briid, briidj (“wide”), Saterland Frisian and West Frisian breed (“broad, wide”), Bavarian brad, broad (“broad, wide”), Central Franconian and Luxembourgish breet (“broad, wide”), Dutch breed (“broad, wide”), German breit (“broad, wide”), Vilamovian braat (“broad, wide”), Yiddish ברייט (breyt, “broad, wide”), Danish and Swedish bred (“broad, wide”), Faroese and Icelandic breiður (“broad, wide”), Norwegian Bokmål bred, brei (“broad, wide”), Norwegian Nynorsk brei, breid (“broad, wide”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 (braiþs, “broad, wide”).
Early 20th century, apparent phono-semantic matching of German Braut (“bride”, also “girlfriend”, and more generally “broad, chick”).
Across languages
Translations
55 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: широк (širok) — having a specified width
- Czech: široký — having a specified width
- Dutch: breed — having a specified width
- Finnish: leveä — having a specified width
- French: large — having a specified width
- Georgian: ვრცელი (vrceli) — having a specified width
- German: breit — having a specified width
- Japanese: 幅が...ある (haba ga ... aru) — having a specified width
- Korean: 폭(幅)이...인 (pog-i...in) — having a specified width
- Latin: latus — having a specified width
- Macedonian: широк (širok) — having a specified width
- Plautdietsch: breet — having a specified width
- Polish: szeroki — having a specified width
- Portuguese: largo — having a specified width
- Russian: в ширину́ (v širinú) — having a specified width
- Scottish Gaelic: a leud — having a specified width
- Swedish: bred — having a specified width
- Finnish: leveä — strongly regional
- French: fort — strongly regional
- Japanese: 訛り丸出しの (namari marudashi no) — strongly regional
- Korean: 강(強)한 (ganghan) — strongly regional
- Korean: 노골적(露骨的)인 (nogoljeogin) — strongly regional
- Polish: gwarowy — strongly regional
- Swedish: bred — strongly regional
- Czech: baba — (slang) woman or girl
- Finnish: lyyli — (slang) woman or girl
- French: gonzesse — (slang) woman or girl
- French: meuf — (slang) woman or girl
- German: Weib — (slang) woman or girl
- German: Braut — (slang) woman or girl
- Hungarian: csaj — (slang) woman or girl
- Hungarian: nőszemély — (slang) woman or girl
- Hungarian: spiné — (slang) woman or girl
- Japanese: 女 (onna) — (slang) woman or girl
- Japanese: 助 (suke) — (slang) woman or girl
- Korean: 계집애 (gyejibae) — (slang) woman or girl
- Korean: 여자 (yeoja) — (slang) woman or girl
- Persian: دختر (doxtar) — (slang) woman or girl
- Polish: babol — (slang) woman or girl
- Polish: babon — (slang) woman or girl
- Polish: babsko — (slang) woman or girl
- Polish: babsztyl — (slang) woman or girl
- Polish: babus — (slang) woman or girl
- Polish: baba — (slang) woman or girl
- Portuguese: gaja — (slang) woman or girl
- Portuguese: gaja — (slang) woman or girl
- Russian: де́вка (dévka) — (slang) woman or girl
- Russian: ба́ба (bába) — (slang) woman or girl
- Spanish: pava — (slang) woman or girl
- Spanish: piba — (slang) woman or girl
- Spanish: jermu — (slang) woman or girl
- Spanish: gachí — (slang) woman or girl
- Swedish: tjej — (slang) woman or girl
- Swedish: brutta — (slang) woman or girl
- Ukrainian: ді́вка (dívka) — (slang) woman or girl
Real reading context