dilate

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To enlarge

   To enlarge; to make bigger.

   • The eye doctor put drops in my eye to dilate the pupil so he could see the nerve better.
2. 2

   To become wider or larger

   To become wider or larger; to expand.

   • His heart dilates and glories in his strength.
3. 3

   To speak largely and copiously

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

   • Do me the favour to dilate at full / What hath befallen of them and thee till now.
   • But still they on their ancient joys dilate.
   • Houellebecq’s men[…] dilate lovingly upon the makes and models of cars and appliances, and the subsidiary brands of hospitality and conglomerates.
4. ›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

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

      • In very tight and obstinate stricture I sometimes dilate every day, but as soon as it has been stretched up to 23 or 24, I dilate every other day, or at greater intervals, keeping the instrument in place several minutes.
      • He gave her some of the dilators he used to dilate her vagina shortly after the surgery and encouraged her to do it frequently.
   2. 5

      To delay, defer.

      • Without more time delated.
   3. 6

      To prolong, lengthen.

      • A […] way to dilate a remembrance beyond the banks of Forgetfulness.
   4. 7

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

The neighborhood

• neighbordilute