- Broadest
- Broad Broad (br[add]d), a. [Compar. {Broader}
(br[add]d"[~e]r); superl. {Broadest}.] [OE. brod, brad, AS.
br[=a]d; akin to OS. br[=e]d, D. breed, G. breit, Icel.
brei[eth]r, Sw. & Dan. bred, Goth. braids. Cf. {Breadth}.]
1. Wide; extend in breadth, or from side to side; -- opposed
to {narrow}; as, a broad street, a broad table; an inch
broad.
[1913 Webster]
2. Extending far and wide; extensive; vast; as, the broad expanse of ocean. [1913 Webster]
3. Extended, in the sense of diffused; open; clear; full. ``Broad and open day.'' --Bp. Porteus. [1913 Webster]
4. Fig.: Having a large measure of any thing or quality; not limited; not restrained; -- applied to any subject, and retaining the literal idea more or less clearly, the precise meaning depending largely on the substantive. [1913 Webster]
A broad mixture of falsehood. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
Note: Hence: [1913 Webster]
5. Comprehensive; liberal; enlarged. [1913 Webster]
The words in the Constitution are broad enough to include the case. --D. Daggett. [1913 Webster]
In a broad, statesmanlike, and masterly way. --E. Everett. [1913 Webster]
6. Plain; evident; as, a broad hint. [1913 Webster]
7. Free; unrestrained; unconfined. [1913 Webster]
As broad and general as the casing air. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
8. (Fine Arts) Characterized by breadth. See {Breadth}. [1913 Webster]
9. Cross; coarse; indelicate; as, a broad compliment; a broad joke; broad humor. [1913 Webster]
10. Strongly marked; as, a broad Scotch accent. [1913 Webster]
Note: Broad is often used in compounds to signify wide, large, etc.; as, broad-chested, broad-shouldered, broad-spreading, broad-winged. [1913 Webster]
{Broad acres}. See under {Acre}.
{Broad arrow}, originally a pheon. See {Pheon}, and {Broad arrow} under {Arrow}.
{As broad as long}, having the length equal to the breadth; hence, the same one way as another; coming to the same result by different ways or processes. [1913 Webster]
It is as broad as long, whether they rise to others, or bring others down to them. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster]
{Broad pennant}. See under {Pennant}. [1913 Webster]
Syn: Wide; large; ample; expanded; spacious; roomy; extensive; vast; comprehensive; liberal. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
