Meaning of broad in English:

broad

Pronunciation /brɔːd/

See synonyms for broad

Translate broad into Spanish

adjective

1Having a distance larger than usual from side to side; wide.
‘a broad staircase’
- ‘One was a tremendously tall man, with broad shoulders and huge muscles.’
- ‘At last we left the main highway and turned into a still narrower road, barely one lane wide, with broad dirt shoulders.’
- ‘The men all had identical bodies - huge shaved pecs, broad shoulders, tans and tan lines, white smiles, slightly bulging eyes and bland faces.’
- ‘Along one side rose a broad staircase, while a door on the left led into the kitchen and a couple more opened out at the far end.’
- ‘He had huge shoulders and a broad back which tapered to an extraordinarily small waist.’
- ‘On the left hand side of the room was a broad staircase leading up, and on the right was a lamp lit hallway.’
- ‘Mary buries her face into Ace's broad shoulder.’
- ‘Combat units line up shoulder to shoulder across a broad front to face the enemy, which organizes its units in much the same fashion.’
- ‘The Huilloc men are only a little taller than their womenfolk, with broad chests, powerful shoulders and heavily muscled legs.’
- ‘Lifeline Sudan flies in Hercules in broad circles over the area days before food drops.’
- ‘The second stretches northward along the littoral, fanning outward to the east in a broad arc encompassing the area around Aleppo.’
- ‘Faced with the blank white page, I tried to visualize the knoll where I sat, gazing across a broad area of the river to a point where some birds were roosting.’
- ‘She wore a white top, with broad light blue sleeves.’
- ‘The broad, blue river flowed past with infinite patience and slow, deep inevitability, and the thought of that much water in one place was daunting.’
- ‘Burlap reappears in Work II as the ground on which Jensen painted broad, black brushstrokes suggesting a Japanese mountain landscape.’
- ‘Thailand's flag consists of a broad blue horizontal band at the center, with narrower bands of stripes above and below it; the inner ones are white, the outer ones red.’
- ‘To get such a line across the neck suggests something broad had been pressed into the neck.’
- ‘Over all is a brilliant blue sky with broad white streaks, and horizontal lines of tiny crosses representing, presumably, stars.’
- ‘It was this colour that tinted his broad moustache, and the short, precise goatee on his chin.’
- ‘A large bay flows into a broad blue river that flows through the heart of the city.’
wide, large, big
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1. 1.1(after a measurement) giving the distance from side to side.
  ‘the valley is three miles long and half a mile broad’
  ‘The castle itself was measured as being 56 feet high, 56 feet broad, and 38 feet in width, and the thickness of the walls was said to be 8 feet.’
  ‘Lough Ennell or Belvidere Lake, southwest of Mullingar, is 5 miles long and 2 miles broad.’
  ‘The island Britain is 800 miles long, and 200 miles broad.’
  in breadth, in width, from side to side, wide, across, thick
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2. 1.2Large in area.
  ‘a broad expanse of paddy fields’
  ‘Five upward-facing tines Dr. Baker capture tissue and spread pressure over a broad area, facilitating sturdy fixation and reattachment.’
  ‘In these slides, a broad area of snowpack breaks away and begins moving downhill as a cohesive mass riding over an ice sheet or bare ground.’
  ‘Now, as I look at the graphic behind you there, Max, as we see that, that's a broad area that you have there for a danger zone.’
  ‘When searching, it's important to be specific in your query to avoid getting search results from too broad an area.’
  ‘On the left, at a slightly higher level, is a broad parking area.’
  ‘The general seizures will cause loss of consciousness, and affects the whole body and may occur over a broad area of the brain.’
  ‘The hydrothermal system created by the Sudbury impact also dissolved minerals containing copper and other metals from a broad area and then concentrated them in rich veins.’
  ‘There are several hybrid zones, and often mixtures of phenotypes associated with different subspecies exist over relatively broad geographic areas.’
  ‘The sand in the lag deposit arrived at the shore through the action of streams and rivers, meaning that it was collected over a broad area and concentrated in this shore deposit.’
  ‘He felt that one would need a significant crack for a fast flow of water between the joints, unless the water accumulated over a broad horizontal area and then formed one rivulet.’
  ‘The sink-under-counter style of installation, common in Brazil, provides a clean look and allows a broad drainage area.’
  ‘Running buffalo clover once occurred over a broad area of the Midwest.’
  ‘The active phase is usually associated with broad areas of cloud and rain, with sustained moderate to fresh northwesterly winds on the north side of the trough.’
  ‘I cross the broad area in front of Pass Creek at the 13 mile mark, note the strength of the venturi in the pass as significant, then drive into Red Rocks.’
  ‘This procedure made SEHEM one of the first validated models for predicting growth of rangeland grasses over a very broad area.’
  ‘While the game examined a broad array of mission areas, our focus was on how the key mission areas of SMDC affect the Objective Force.’
  ‘The present study shows that sequence divergence within a lineage of Pokey is extremely low even across very broad geographic areas.’
  ‘They need to go out in the middle of a sinkhole area and try to find the confining layer - to see if it covers a truly broad area - but they don't do that.’
  ‘At the pyramid's apex, the route emerges onto the Shoulder, a broad hump at roughly 26,000 feet and the site of the fourth and final camp before reaching the top.’
  extensive, vast, immense, great, spacious, expansive, sizeable, sweeping, rambling, rolling, ample, spread out, far reaching, boundless, immeasurable
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2Covering a large number and wide scope of subjects.
‘the company has a broad range of experience’
- ‘It was obvious how diverse all of your interests were, and so I've tried to offer a broad scope of subjects without making one seem more important than the other.’
- ‘We know, and I am sure you know, Mr Chairman, how broad the scope and subject of the Resource Management Act is.’
- ‘Passionate about space, they proposed a university dedicated to a broad range of space-related subjects for graduate students from all parts of the world.’
- ‘This is a very broad provision, which subjects a wide range of activity to potential criminal penalties.’
- ‘Hoop Dreams, Stevie, and Reel Paradise cover a broad range of subject matter, but they all have to do with what benefactors owe to the people they help.’
- ‘However, that's sort of unfortunate since democracy thrives when citizens are able to debate a broad range of subjects rather than deferring to the judgment of the experts.’
- ‘Though its title initially suggests an impossibly broad subject, The Black Experience is the story of one Pan-African man.’
- ‘Students study a broad choice of subjects over two years, together with a programme of studies designed to develop the student and foster his or her analytical, social and creative skills.’
- ‘I have a shallow but broad knowledge of the subject.’
- ‘It's a broad subject and just about every aspect of the course was examined in the ordinary and higher-level papers.’
- ‘The subject matter is broad and connects readily with various branches and sub-disciplines of philosophy including the philosophies of law and of economics.’
- ‘Nevertheless, it provides a broad treatment of the subject, including its historical, mechanical, and human dimensions.’
- ‘The observations of travellers to Scotland dating back to the 1540s is the subject of this broad selection of material on display at the National Library of Scotland.’
- ‘It deals with aspects of the subject at once very broad and very limited.’
- ‘Though primarily a botanist, he demonstrated a broad interest in other subjects, as well.’
- ‘Whilst not wanting to obscure these differences, the aim of this paper is to present a broad overview of its subject matter and will discuss English and Scottish beliefs as a whole.’
- ‘The scope is broad, ranging from international to local events.’
- ‘I am impressed by the broad treatment of related subjects in this book.’
- ‘Inevitably with such a broad scope and a range of contributors the overall quality is uneven.’
- ‘People who have a broad interest in the subject but who lack the historical and ideological framework for a fuller, informed reading, will be gently and entertainingly enlightened here.’
comprehensive, inclusive, extensive, wide, wide-ranging, broad-ranging, encyclopedic, all-embracing
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1. 2.1Having a wide range of meanings or applications; loosely defined.
  ‘our range of programmes comprises three broad categories’
  ‘It also offers a broad range of software applications and hardware dedicated to the land development market.’
  ‘At the same time, Becker notes, the discipline is broad in theory and application, including a wide range of experimental and applied work.’
  ‘A renewable, tissue culture source of human cells capable of differentiating into a wide variety of cell types would have broad applications in basic research and therapeutic techniques.’
  ‘It can be said that there are a number of categories or classes of case within the broad description of applications made by maternal primary carers.’
  ‘This is one example of a math fact strategy that develops number sense in children and potentially has a broad application in mathematics learning.’
  ‘Its range of applicability is broad and seeks to gain understanding of every aspect of the biological world.’
  ‘Since space and missile operations have a wide application, civilian applications are equally broad.’
  ‘I've come to the conclusion that they are invoking an unwritten rule, a rule with broad application and ramifications.’
  ‘He is talking about old Europe but his point has broad application.’
  ‘They are a small firm with some big ideas for the broad applications of nanotechnology.’
  ‘I define feminism in the broad terms of any deed or action that promotes the equality and liberation of women.’
  ‘One or more broad objectives are defined for each topic.’
  ‘The main danger of awarding overly broad patents is that they could stifle research; scientists may be wary of carrying out research in certain areas for fear of breaching another party's patent.’
  ‘The above two cases illustrate how broad patents can limit research.’
  ‘Thankfully, it seems hard to imagine that Disney will be granted this rather broad patent.’
2. 2.2Including many people of many kinds.
  ‘the polls registered broad support for Labour’
  ‘Bush reached out for the broad support of Americans on Wednesday, even those who voted against him.’
  ‘Support was broad and bipartisan; contrary to what is often assumed today, a higher proportion of Republicans than of Democrats supported the bill.’
  ‘But Boyko disagreed, saying that anybody who thinks there is broad support for such a proposal is ‘delusional.’’
  ‘Home Rule was not a natural demand of the working class, and Biagini exaggerates the anti-statism of the working class, as there was broad support for intervention and regulation of the economy.’
  ‘As councillors Ryan and Roche got used to their new positions with the broad support of their Council colleagues yesterday, tensions were running somewhat high elsewhere.’
  ‘Finally, this poll is being cited as showing broad support for affirmative action and a rejection on the Administration's position in the Michigan cases.’
  ‘But from within Mr Sharon's own Cabinet I think there was broad support for this strike, and in fact there's more support for him to go even further, as I said.’
  ‘Meanwhile, Fine Gael councillor John Browne said he was encouraged by the broad support he received at the recent meeting of Carlow County Council when he raised the matter.’
  ‘The Chief Executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Peter Hendy, says unions are set to fail in its push to get broad community support.’
  ‘Instead, he's drawing broad support from the middle, all those moderates who don't associate themselves with either party.’
  ‘One of main reasons for the channelling of large proportions of conservation funds to these species has been that these animals can be used as flagships to gain broad support.’
  ‘The resolution was put forward by the Red Vote Alliance Party, and it received broad support from the Labor Party, the Center Party, and a member of the Progress Party.’
  ‘Clearly there's some unfairness of the tax code; it's got broad support if we eliminate the marriage penalty tax and the death tax.’
  ‘The dot scot campaign has received broad support from industry, and is seen as a means towards advancing Scotland's image as a cutting-edge country to do business with.’
  ‘The criticism of McConnell's project comes despite broad support from across Scotland's political spectrum about his attempts to come to the aid of Malawi.’
  ‘The issue is that to be effective, cultural rebellion, by definition, has to be acting in opposition to something with broad support.’
  ‘A Washington Post editorial described him as being ‘the sort of future leader capable of winning broad support’.’
  ‘This has broad coalition support and it's bipartisan, and I hope that it can be the real center of discussion as we solve this problem.’
  ‘The regime demands formal negotiations leading to economic assistance and broad support for its internal security.’
  ‘Still to come, a four-star general with seemingly broad political appeal announces he's running for president.’
3General; without detail.
‘a broad outline of the legal framework for pension schemes’
- ‘The mediums much prefer generalities, broad statements, and vague hints, all of which can be ‘interpreted’ generously.’
- ‘It's a broad, sweeping generalization about a communication medium and an art form that has just as many good and bad things going for it as anything else.’
- ‘This is, of course, in addition to his unfortunate tendency to make ridiculously broad generalizations and radically oversimplify complex social and moral issues.’
- ‘Even the inclusion of the subjects of finance and technology is hardly significant for the developing countries as the work envisaged in these fields is of a very general and broad nature.’
- ‘The budget blueprint provides a broad outline of the administration's budget priorities, with details to be released in early April.’
- ‘Beyond that, I'm reluctant to make broad generalizations.’
- ‘As a general orientation, its broad contours may frequently be discernible in social research, but it is also the case that we often find departures from it.’
- ‘When I was making Weed Forestin, I was writing in incredibly general, broad terms.’
- ‘I stand by the comment as a broad generalisation, and I justify it on more than grounds of narrow personal prejudice.’
- ‘These are all very broad, general traits and there are always exceptions.’
- ‘This seems like a broad generalisation, but studies have shown what I just explained.’
- ‘Though this is a broad generalisation and does not hold true for all companies it is evident with a great many.’
- ‘And twenty million resident aliens live suddenly subject to the exceedingly broad terms of a new martial law.’
- ‘The emphasis in this study is on the conceptualization of composing in the documents within the framework of this broad constitution of the subject English.’
- ‘In fact, this is another reason why we believe that a broad definition of the subject is most helpful to the student.’
- ‘In formulating its position the labour movement adopted, initially, a broad agenda of change based on an incomes policy.’
- ‘This is the broad agenda for these projects and we hope to report on it in future independent and replicated studies.’
- ‘By World War I their tactics and strategies linked the national to the local in a broad agenda for change.’
- ‘However, most states today are not keen on a broad agenda for trade talks.’
- ‘It also provides a broad timetable for the future availability of various systems.’
general, non-specific, unspecific, unfocused, rough, approximate, overall, sweeping, basic, loose, indefinite, vague, hazy, fuzzy, woolly
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1. 3.1(of a hint) clear and unambiguous; not subtle.
  ‘a broad hint’
  ‘Deleeuw suggests that Shakespeare seems to be making rather broad hints about the contradictory nature of the play in these initial scenes.’
  ‘But Philip Ashdown, the school's chairman of governors dropped a broad hint that Mrs White would be reinstated as head of the school.’
  ‘I think the notion of a retrial is a broad hint to him to leave Egypt and go abroad, but so far he has been too stubborn and principled to take such hints.’
  ‘Hardly had he become Labour leader than Henry McLeish was dropping broad hints that he was going to review the government's line on Sutherland.’
  ‘Marr professes - rather implausibly - not to be too aware of the issues, but gives a broad hint that he would be against the idea.’
  ‘When it's starting to get late I drop broad hints about study and early mornings.’
  ‘However, Greenspan dropped broad hints that future cuts could be more modest.’
  ‘And he's even started dropping broad hints that he plans to stick around in Formula One, to stay with Ferrari until he's 40.’
  ‘Ministers have dropped broad hints that this is when Labour will try to win a third term.’
  ‘In his valedictory speech to the parliament, Cox stopped short of asking for the job of commission president, but dropped broad hints.’
  ‘The last thing she needed right now was some inept matchmaking attempt or broad hint to Paul from her mother or sister.’
  ‘At the awards ceremony, Chris Cairns dropped a broad hint that he might not be retiring from Test cricket just yet, as had been suggested in the media.’
  ‘This amounts to a grave accusation, but Bissell leaves it as just a broad hint.’
  ‘The band had started to drop broad hints to Tony Stock that he should be paying his unofficial assistants and that he would be denounced to the press as an exploiter if he didn't.’
  ‘The way land speculation hit the private housing market gives us a broad hint of how personal spending power was reduced.’
  ‘Well I'm not going to get into any kind of specificity about that other than a broad indication that it's not likely to take a long period of time.’
  ‘They say they have been given a broad indication that the club wants to stay - but no deal has been struck yet.’
  ‘If so, can you name the companies, languages, and give a broad indication of the price paid?’
  ‘From 1935 to the present, the U.S. census offers some broad indication of the rates of return migration during the southern exodus.’
  ‘Family history is a broad indicator of genetic variation associated with disease and may serve as a proxy for laboratory-based testing.’
  obvious, direct, plain, clear, unsubtle, explicit, straightforward, bald, clear-cut, manifest, patent, conspicuous, transparent, prominent, unmistakable, undisguised, unconcealed, overt, undeniable
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2. 3.2(of a phonetic transcription) showing only meaningful distinctions in sound and ignoring minor details.
  ‘It is the kind used in pronouncing dictionaries, and is referred to informally as broad transcription.’
  ‘The goal of a broad transcription is to record the phonemes that a speaker uses rather than the actual spoken variants of those phonemes that are produced.’
  ‘A broad transcription would also need to note the difference, because the two words mean different things.’
4Somewhat coarse and indecent.
‘the broad humour has been toned down’
- ‘The humour is broad and robust, but underneath the comedy is delicately balanced with pathos.’
- ‘Northern Broadsides are experts at celebrating the broad humour present in all Shakespeare's plays, with some outstanding performances and impeccable comic timing.’
- ‘Some of the humour may be too broad for more sophisticated audiences, but overall this is a charming way to spend a couple of hours.’
- ‘Whatever it was, it was broad and very unrefined.’
- ‘He was proud, he said, to come from Kent, ‘where I doubt not is spoken as broad and rude English as is in any place of England’.’
indecent, improper, coarse, unrefined, indelicate, ribald, risqué, racy, rude, spicy, suggestive, naughty, indecorous, off colour, earthy, smutty, dirty, filthy, vulgar, gross
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5(of a regional accent) very noticeable and strong.
‘the words had a distinct tang of broad Lancashire’
- ‘A central strength in the production is that the local broad regional accent has been used to fine effect throughout, thus giving it an earthy and authentic ‘feel’.’
- ‘He has the pale, pasty set of the sedentary, a fleshy padding of indulgence and a deep, broad accent with an odd similarity to that of Charles Kennedy.’
- ‘You can see this sense of place in the parts she has played, a largely working-class roster of roles that allows her to keep her broad accent, an accent she says she never wants to lose.’
- ‘My father was a bit cross about my accent being too broad - my brothers and sisters were all nicely spoken - and he tried to stop it.’
- ‘‘But I've been doing it that long, you don't notice,’ he says in a broad Wearside accent.’
- ‘Mr Golding is fascinated by the stories surrounding the making of Kes, including the withdrawal of American backing because executives could not understand the broad Barnsley accents.’
- ‘The high point of my trip to New Zealand this Christmas came when I met and embraced a little grey-haired lady with a broad Kiwi accent at her home in Lower Hutt, a suburb of Wellington, in the North Island.’
- ‘Shepherd quotes the workmen's broad Edinburgh accents as if ancient Aramaic, finding one worker who touchingly gave up work elsewhere so that he could play his part in the creation of the new parliament.’
- ‘He didn't fit the usual rock-star template, after all: he wasn't tall or macho and he didn't disguise his broad North London accent when he sang.’
- ‘‘I'm only messing,’ giggles Melanie Brown in her broad Leeds accent, collapsing back into a spinny chair.’
- ‘A second-generation Syrian American in his fifties and the son of a car factory worker, he speaks in a broad Midwest accent and wears not robes or a long beard but a blue suit, shirt and tie.’
- ‘Many in the Asian community are born and bred in Keighley and have broad West Yorkshire accents; others have been there for 30 or 40 years.’
- ‘I don't know why I don't have a broad Lancashire accent.’
- ‘But could southerners understand their broad Yorkshire accents?’
- ‘It was only the following Monday that my manager put his head round the door, and in his broad Dublin accent said just one sentence to me.’
- ‘I developed a broad New Zealand accent to annoy my 4th form speech teacher and now I can't get rid of it.’
- ‘When Bradfordian Hasan Jamal visited a small village in Pakistan the last thing he expected to hear was a broad Yorkshire accent.’
- ‘It's an intriguing partnership because Timson sounds very humorous, talks in a broad Lancashire accent and swears like a trooper.’
- ‘Sir Walter Raleigh kept his broad Devonshire accent all his life, to the point where people used to complain that the Swisser-Swatter was almost incomprehensible in the east of England.’
noticeable, strong, thick, heavy, pronounced
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noun

informal, dated North American

A woman.
- ‘I get drunk, follow the pretty broads, and make a fool of myself’
- ‘We listen to tough old broad Elaine Stritch belt out a song about tough old broads.’
- ‘Honey - we may be crazy old broads, but we're not dead.’
- ‘The group has plodded along for more than a decade, balancing ‘real jobs’ with a nice dose of touring, beer, broads, beer… did I mention beer?’
- ‘Apparently he had a bevy of broads from the Bronx caring for him, and, in fact, it seemed as though his apartment had become somewhat of a community center.’
- ‘Jeff, these broads have transformed that dive into a legit cabaret.’
- ‘These women are tough broads indeed, which makes the doc seem cold for a while.’
- ‘Doonan sees these provocateurs not as a bunch of kooky broads but as important representatives of the evolution of women's culture.’
- ‘What we should not overlook, of course, is that some of Hollywood's most famous female stars were not buxom broads.’
- ‘He said it was a good way to meet broads.’
- ‘I asked the bartender where all the broads were and he just started laughing.’
- ‘Man, let me tell you, they don't make broads like that any more.’
- ‘Her strong, independent characters have more in common with the sassy broads of 1940s and 1950s Hollywood than the insipid, passive roles generally meted out to today's luckless ingénues.’
- ‘I didn't anticipate the broads to be so pleasing to the eye is all.’
- ‘Those broads thought ‘nice’ was nothing more than a place in the south of France to go and get a suntan.’
- ‘Food is an ingredient of nearly all mobster movies, as essential as bullets or broads.’
- ‘She helped transform Broadway leading ladies from demure innocents to tough and knowing broads.’
- ‘I used to think that women were the salvation of humanity, that if only they let the broads take over for a while the world would start heading in a better, more civilized direction.’
lady, adult female, female
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Phrases

broad in the beam

informal

(of a person) fat around the hips.
- ‘What struck me was that these guys were all well-dressed in suits and that they were all big fellas, not nearly as tall as I am but all real hefty and broad in the beam.’
- ‘Wandering Forbidden Planet, I find myself part of a crowd of scruffy, myopic thirtysomething white boys who've grown a bit broad in the beam from too much sitting and snacking.’
- ‘It would have to be first class because she's a bit broad in the beam.’
- ‘Morweena was forced to slide a little, because the woman was broad in the beam.’
- ‘Presumably she was a bit long in the tooth and a bit broad in the beam for evening television.’
- ‘Hartson may look a bit broad in the beam, but his strength and experience will give big problems to defenders in the Championship.’

in broad daylight

During daylight hours, and surprising for this reason.
‘the kidnap took place in broad daylight’
- ‘People say they were surprised because it was in broad daylight.’
- ‘How had McWilliams managed to get across a roof and drop down into the yard of a loyalist wing, in broad daylight, without being seen?’
- ‘An 18-year-old woman had her handbag and lunch snatched from her as she walked to work in broad daylight.’
- ‘Also remarkable is leaving the theater at about eleven thirty in broad daylight.’
- ‘Most of the burglaries took place during the daytime in broad daylight.’
- ‘It happened in broad daylight on a busy intersection in Makati, Manila's business district.’
- ‘Last week a few miles outside Lucknow robbers stopped the traffic and began robbing passers-by in broad daylight.’
- ‘It was entirely unprovoked and it took place in broad daylight.’
- ‘There are people who steal flowers in broad daylight from the flower beds.’
- ‘It has not helped that bank robberies have been carried out mere yards from a city police station in broad daylight.’
- ‘Tuesday's early-morning attack was the eighth committed in a public place in broad daylight.’
- ‘I recently witnessed another heist pulled off in broad daylight by our local law enforcement.’
- ‘Criminals should not be allowed to commit crimes with impunity in broad daylight.’
- ‘They're in every evening and weekend in broad daylight where people can seem them.’
- ‘It's not like it was in a dark alley at night, it was in broad daylight.’
- ‘It took thieves less than 15 minutes to steal the goods in broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon.’
- ‘Some months ago I witnessed a similar incident at the same roundabout, this time in broad daylight.’
- ‘After all, she chased Dorothy and the lads around in broad daylight for nearly 90 minutes.’
- ‘Staff believe the culprits must have taken the flowers in broad daylight.’
- ‘A banned motorist who tried to flee from police through residential areas in Keighley during broad daylight has been jailed for a total of 15 months.’