Definition of DILATE

dilate

Verb

Verb Forms: dilated, dilating, dilates

  • To make or become wider, larger, or more open.
  • become wider
    • "His pupils were dilated"
  • add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
  • To enlarge; to make bigger.
  • To become wider or larger; to expand.
  • To speak largely and copiously; to dwell in narration; to enlarge; with "on" or "upon".
  • To use a dilator to widen (something, such as a vagina).
  • To delay, difer.
  • To prolong, lengthen.

Adj

  • Carried in different ways, spread, abroad, dispersed, published.

Examples

  • His heart dilates and glories in his strength.
  • His pupils would DILATE in excitement when he saw a bingo on his Words With Friends rack.
  • The eye doctor put drops in my eye to dilate the pupil so he could see the nerve better.

Origin / Etymology

First attested in 1393, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English dilaten, from Old French dilater, from Latin dīlātō (“to spread out”), from dī- + lātus (“wide”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of dilatate.

Antonyms

contract

Scrabble Score: 7

dilate: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
dilate: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
dilate: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 8

dilate: valid Words With Friends Word