Meaning

6 senses
  1. (transitive)To enlarge; to make bigger.

    The eye doctor put drops in my eye to dilate the pupil so he could see the nerve better.

    dilatieren, weiten, vergrößern

    расширя́тьrasširjátʹ, расши́ритьrasšíritʹ, увели́чиватьuvelíčivatʹ

  2. (intransitive)To become wider or larger; to expand.

    His heart dilates and glories in his strength.

    sich weiten, ausdehnen, weiten

    расширя́тьсяrasširjátʹsja, расши́ритьсяrasšíritʹsja, увели́чиватьсяuvelíčivatʹsja

    become wider

  3. (ambitransitive)To speak largely and copiously; to dwell in narration; to enlarge; with "on" or "upon".

  4. (ambitransitive)To use a dilator to widen (something, such as a vagina).

  5. (obsolete, transitive)To delay, defer.

  6. (obsolete, transitive)To prolong, lengthen.

Examples

10 sentences
  1. Tom's pupils became dilated.

    ruЗрачки Тома расширились. — Wezel

  2. My eyes were dilated.

  3. Tom's pupils are dilated.

    У Тома розширені зіниці. — deniko

    ruЗрачки Тома расширены. — Wezel

  4. Michael's eyes were fully dilated like a wild animal.

  5. I hate the drops doctors use to dilate my eyes for an eye exam.

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · mccarras · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

8 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
to enlarge; to make bigger:
to become wider or larger; to expand:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
to enlarge; to make bigger:
to become wider or larger; to expand:

Origin

First attested in 1393, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English dilaten, from Old

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.

First attested in 1399, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English dilaten (“to delay, tarry”), borrowed from Latin dīlātus, perfect passive participle of Latin dīfferō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)). If so, Doublet of defer and differ; see also infer, relate and refer, collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prefer and prelate among others. Alternatively, from Latin dīlātō, see Etymology 1.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

dilates, dilating, dilated, dilated
Base formdilate · to dilate
3rd person singulardilates
Present participledilating
Past simpledilated
Past participledilated

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theydilate
he, she, itdilates

Past simpleLesson

all personsdilated

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave dilated
he, she, ithas dilated

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill dilate

Synonyms

9 synonyms
Close in meaning

Antonyms

1 antonyms

Word family

20 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
dilate — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto