n. The maximum rate of information transfer (measured in bits/second) that can be carried by a communication channel. “The bandwidth of an analog telephone line is less than 100 kilobits per second.” [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.) A large whippoorwill-like bird (a species of goatsucker) (Caprimulgus carolinensis, formerly Antrostomus Carolinensis), of the southern United States; -- so called from its note. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. including or occurring in all parts of a city; as, citywide bussing; a citywide strike. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. involving the entire continent. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. extending throughout a country or nation as a whole; as, a countrywide fund-raising campaign.
Syn. -- nationwide. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. including or occurring in all parts of a county; as, a countywide war on drugs; countywide elections. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To widen. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Written also pigwidgin and pigwiggen. ] A cant word for anything petty or small. It is used by Drayton as the name of a fairy. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) (a) The scaup duck. (b) The pintail duck. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A slight twist with the fingers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A pimple. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Probably of imitative origin. Cf. Tweedle. ] To touch lightly, or play with; to tweedle; to twirl; as, to twiddle one's thumbs; to twiddle a watch key. [ Written also twidle. ] Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To play with anything; hence, to be busy about trifles. Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. same as crumblecap. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ or or } [ After Fernand Widal (b. 1862), French physician. ] (Med.) A test for typhoid fever based on the fact that blood serum of one affected, in a bouillon culture of typhoid bacilli, causes the bacilli to agglutinate and lose their motility. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Cf. Withy. ] A rope or halter made of flexible twigs, or withes, as of birch. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Wider superl. Widest. ] [ OE. wid, wyde, AS. wīd; akin to OFries. & OS. wīd, D. wijd, G. weit, OHG. wīt, Icel. vīðr, Sw. & Dan. vid; of uncertain origin. ] 1. Having considerable distance or extent between the sides; spacious across; much extended in a direction at right angles to that of length; not narrow; broad; as, wide cloth; a wide table; a wide highway; a wide bed; a wide hall or entry. [ 1913 Webster ]

The chambers and the stables weren wyde. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wide is the gate . . . that leadeth to destruction. Matt. vii. 18. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having a great extent every way; extended; spacious; broad; vast; extensive; as, a wide plain; the wide ocean; a wide difference. “This wyde world.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

For sceptered cynics earth were far too wide a den. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

When the wide bloom, on earth that lies,
Seems of a brighter world than ours. Bryant. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Of large scope; comprehensive; liberal; broad; as, wide views; a wide understanding. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men of strongest head and widest culture. M. Arnold. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Of a certain measure between the sides; measuring in a direction at right angles to that of length; as, a table three feet wide. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Remote; distant; far. [ 1913 Webster ]

The contrary being so wide from the truth of Scripture and the attributes of God. Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Far from truth, from propriety, from necessity, or the like. “Our wide expositors.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is far wide that the people have such judgments. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

How wide is all this long pretense ! Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. On one side or the other of the mark; too far side-wise from the mark, the wicket, the batsman, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Surely he shoots wide on the bow hand. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

I was but two bows wide. Massinger. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Phon.) Made, as a vowel, with a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the mouth organs; -- opposed to primary as used by Mr. Bell, and to narrow as used by Mr. Sweet. The effect, as explained by Mr. Bell, is due to the relaxation or tension of the pharynx; as explained by Mr. Sweet and others, it is due to the action of the tongue. The wide of ē (ēve) is &ibreve_; (&ibreve_;ll); of ā (āte) is &ebreve_; (&ebreve_;nd), etc. See Guide to Pronunciation, § 13-15. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Stock Exchanges) Having or showing a wide difference between the highest and lowest price, amount of supply, etc.; as, a wide opening; wide prices, where the prices bid and asked differ by several points. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

☞ Wide is often prefixed to words, esp. to participles and participial adjectives, to form self-explaining compounds; as, wide-beaming, wide-branched, wide-chopped, wide-echoing, wide-extended, wide-mouthed, wide-spread, wide-spreading, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

Far and wide. See under Far. --
Wide gauge. See the Note under Cauge, 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ As. wīde. ] 1. To a distance; far; widely; to a great distance or extent; as, his fame was spread wide. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ I ] went wyde in this world, wonders to hear. Piers Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. So as to leave or have a great space between the sides; so as to form a large opening. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. So as to be or strike far from, or on one side of, an object or purpose; aside; astray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. That which is wide; wide space; width; extent. “The waste wide of that abyss.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which goes wide, or to one side of the mark. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Photog. & Optics) Having or covering an angle wider than the ordinary; -- applied to certain lenses of relatively short focus. Lenses for ordinary purposes have an angle of 50° or less. Wide-angle lenses may cover as much as 100° and are useful for photographing at short range, but the pictures appear distorted. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

n. A broad-brimmed, low-crowned felt hat. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Fully awake; not drowsy or dull; hence, knowing; keen; alert. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The angler; -- called also widegab, and widegut. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. In a wide manner; to a wide degree or extent; far; extensively; as, the gospel was widely disseminated by the apostles. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Very much; to a great degree or extent; as, to differ widely in opinion. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Widened p. pr. & vb. n. Widening. ] To make wide or wider; to extend in breadth; to increase the width of; as, to widen a field; to widen a breach; to widen a stocking. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To grow wide or wider; to enlarge; to spread; to extend. [ 1913 Webster ]

Arches widen, and long aisles extend. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality or state of being wide; breadth; width; great extent from side to side; as, the wideness of a room. “I landed in a small creek about the wideness of my canoe.” Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Large extent in all directions; broadness; greatness; as, the wideness of the sea or ocean. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Spread to a great distance; widely extended; extending far and wide; as, widespread wings; a widespread movement. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ See Wide, and Where. ] Widely; far and wide. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Probably from an old French form of F. vigeon, vingeon, gingeon; of uncertain origin; cf. L. vipio, -onis, a kind of small crane. ] (Zool.) Any one of several species of fresh-water ducks, especially those belonging to the subgenus Mareca, of the genus Anas. The common European widgeon (Anas penelope) and the American widgeon (Anas Americana) are the most important species. The latter is called also baldhead, baldpate, baldface, baldcrown, smoking duck, wheat, duck, and whitebelly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bald-faced widgeon, or
Green-headed widgeon, the American widgeon. --
Black widgeon, the European tufted duck. --
Gray widgeon. (a) The gadwall. (b) The pintail duck. --
Great headed widgeon, the poachard. --
Pied widgeon. (a) The poachard. (b) The goosander. --
Saw-billed widgeon, the merganser. --
Sea widgeon. See in the Vocabulary. --
Spear widgeon, the goosander. [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Spoonbilled widgeon, the shoveler. --
White widgeon, the smew. --
Wood widgeon, the wood duck. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Moderately wide. Tyndall. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Min.) Certain figures appearing on etched meteoric iron; -- so called after A. B. Widmanstätten, of Vienna, who first described them in 1808. See the Note and Illust. under Meteorite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. widewe, widwe, AS. weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa, D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth. widuwō, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr. vidhavā; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. "hi`qeos a bachelor. √248. Cf. Vidual.] A woman who has lost her husband by death, and has not married again; one living bereaved of a husband. “A poor widow.” Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

2. (Card Playing) In various games (such as “hearts”), any extra hand or part of a hand, as one dealt to the table. It may be taken by one of the players under certain circumstances. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Grass widow. See under Grass. --
Widow bewitched, a woman separated from her husband; a grass widow. [Colloq.] --
Widow-in-mourning (Zool.), the macavahu. --
Widow monkey (Zool.), a small South American monkey (Callithrix lugens); -- so called on account of its color, which is black except the dull whitish arms, neck, and face, and a ring of pure white around the face. --
Widow's chamber (Eng. Law), in London, the apparel and furniture of the bedchamber of the widow of a freeman, to which she was formerly entitled. [1913 Webster]

a. Widowed. “A widow woman.” 1 Kings xvii. 9. “This widow lady.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Widowed p. pr. & vb. n. Widowing. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To reduce to the condition of a widow; to bereave of a husband; -- rarely used except in the past participle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though in thus city he
Hath widowed and unchilded many a one,
Which to this hour bewail the injury. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To deprive of one who is loved; to strip of anything beloved or highly esteemed; to make desolate or bare; to bereave. [ 1913 Webster ]

The widowed isle, in mourning,
Dries up her tears. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tress of their shriveled fruits
Are widowed, dreary storms o'er all prevail. J. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mourn, widowed queen; forgotten Sion, mourn. Heber. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To endow with a widow's right. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To become, or survive as, the widow of. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon, and widow
them all. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) See Whidan bird. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A man who has lost his wife by death, and has not married again. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being a widower. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state of being a widow; the time during which a woman is widow; also, rarely, the state of being a widower. [ 1913 Webster ]

Johnson clung to her memory during a widowhood of more than thirty years. Leslie Stephen. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Estate settled on a widow. [ Obs. ] “I 'll assure her of her widowhood . . . in all my lands.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who courts widows, seeking to marry one with a fortune. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Becoming or like a widow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who makes widows by destroying husbands. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A low, narrowleaved evergreen shrub (Cneorum tricoccon) found in Southern Europe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Wide. ] The quality of being wide; extent from side to side; breadth; wideness; as, the width of cloth; the width of a door. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to a widow; vidual. [ Obs. ] Bale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A widow. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Extended throughout the world; as, world-wide fame. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The collective total of all computer installations that are connected to the internet and provide access to other computers connected to the internet, using hypertext transfer protocol, to computer files called web pages, which may have text, graphics, audio or animated video data, as well as pages which may provide data or information in all those forms.
Syn. -- Web, the web, WWW. [ PJC ]