Meaning of broad in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions
  3. Noun
    1. Definitions
  4. Qualitative Adjective
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /brɔd/

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  1. Classifying Adjective

    broad

    Definitions

    1. broad in scope or content

    Examples

    • « across-the-board pay increases »
    • « an all-embracing definition »
    • « blanket sanctions against human-rights violators »
    • « an invention with broad applications »
    • « a panoptic study of Soviet nationality- T.G.Winner »
    • « granted him wide »

    Synonyms

  2. 2. not detailed or specific

    Examples

    • « a broad rule »
    • « the broad outlines of the plan »
    • « felt an unspecific dread »

    Synonyms

  3. 3. lacking subtlety

    Examples

    • « obvious »
    • « gave us a broad hint that it was time to leave »

    Synonyms

  4. 4. very large in expanse or scope

    Examples

    • « a broad lawn »
    • « the wide plains »
    • « a spacious view »
    • « spacious skies »

    Synonyms

  5. 5. (of speech) heavily and noticeably regional

    Examples

    • « a broad southern accent »

    Synonyms

  6. 6. showing or characterized by broad-mindedness

    Examples

    • « a broad political stance »
    • « generous and broad sympathies »
    • « a liberal newspaper »
    • « tolerant of his opponent's opinions »

    Synonyms

  7. Noun

    broad

    Definitions

    1. slang term for a woman

    Examples

    • « a broad is a woman who can throw a mean punch »

  8. Qualitative Adjective

    broad

    Etymology

    Old English brād, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch breed and German breit

    Definitions

    1. having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other

    Examples

    • « wide roads »
    • « a wide necktie »
    • « wide margins »
    • « three feet wide »
    • « a river two miles broad »
    • « broad shoulders »
    • « a broad river »

    Synonyms

    Antonyms

Famous quotes

  • « So sometimes the facts are good and sometimes the facts are bad, the important thing from the point of view of a principle as broad and important as freedom of speech is that the courts articulate and set forth in a very protective way what those principles are. »
    Floyd Abrams
  • « I always wanted to be a zookeeper when I was growing up, and I've wound up a zookeeper! I've been working with the Los Angeles Zoo for 45 years! I'm the luckiest old broad on two feet because my life is divided absolutely in half - half animals and half show business. You can't ask for better than two things you love the most. »
    Betty White
  • « We cover hamburgers, chicken, veggie burgers, salads, we've got a pretty broad range. To me, McDonald's isn't only about the food. It's about the prices, it's about the way we eat. »
    Jim Cantalupo
  • « Our citizens and those who have gone before us charted the broad outlines of where we need to go, and they would envy our opportunity to translate those dreams into action. And I believe they will judge us very harshly should we fail to act. »
    Dave Freudenthal
  • « Old age, calm, expanded, broad with the haughty breadth of the universe, old age flowing free with the delicious near-by freedom of death. »
    Edith Wharton

See also

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