broad

comparative broader · superlative broadest

1. Wide in extent or scope.

   three feet broad

   5 more examples

   the broad expanse of ocean

   Thus Falstaff, in Shakspeare, is a character of the broadest comedy, giving himself unreservedly to the senses, coolly ignoring the Reason, whilst he invokes its name, pretending to patriotism and to parental virtues, not with any intent to deceive, but only to make the fun perfect by enjoying the confusion betwixt reason and the negation of reason,—in other words, the rank rascaldom he is calling by its name.

   1870, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Comic”, in Letters and Social Aims (The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson; VIII), Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Company, published 1903, page 130

   Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   Julia Farrington, head of arts at Index on Censorship, argues that extra powers to ban violent videos online will "end up too broad and open to misapplication, which would damage freedom of expression".

   2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 May 2025

   Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three – what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.

   2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, archived from the original on 11 May 2025, page 21

2. Extended, in the sense of diffused; open; clear; full.

   broad and open day

   1720, William Bartlet, a sermon

   1 more example

   crushing the minds of its victims in the broad and open day

   May 12, 1860, Eliza Watson, Witches and witchcraft (in Once A Week, No. 46.)

3. Having a large measure of any thing or quality; unlimited; unrestrained.

   a broad mixture of falsehood

   1693, [John Locke], “§140”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC

4. Comprehensive; liberal; enlarged.

   in a broad, statesmanlike, and masterly way

   1859, Edward Everett, Daniel Webster: An Oration On the Occasion of the Dedication of the Statue of Mr. Webster,

   1 more example

   The words in the Constitution are broad enough to include the case.

   1819, D. Daggett, Sturges v. Crowninshield

5. Plain; evident.

   a broad hint

6. General rather than specific.

   to be in broad agreement

7. communicationsUnsubtle; obvious.

   Lee: I wrote that line for you. Maeve: A bit broad, if you ask me.

   2018 April 22, “Journey into Night” (39:17 from the start), in Westworld, season 2, episode 1, spoken by Maeve Millay and Lee Sizemore (Thandie Newton and Simon Quarterman), via HBO

8. Free; unrestrained; unconfined.

   as broad and general as the casing air

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]

9. datedGross; coarse; indelicate.

   a broad compliment; a broad joke; broad humour

10. human sciencesOf an accent, strongly regional.

    She still has a broad Scottish accent, despite moving to California 20 years ago.

11. human sciencesOf Gaelic languages, velarized, i.e. not palatalized.

plural broads

1. UKA shallow lake, one of a number of bodies of water in eastern Norfolk and Suffolk.
2. A lathe tool for turning down the insides and bottoms of cylinders.
3. UKhistoricalA British gold coin worth 20 shillings, issued by the Commonwealth of England in 1656.
4. broadcastingA kind of floodlight.

   […] fresnel spotlights, old-type broads, sky-pans, cone-lights, etc.

   1974, The Video Handbook, page 71

   2 more examples

   Some broads have barn doors (see page 115) to block gross light spill into other set areas; others have even an adjustable beam, […]

   1976, Herbert Zettl, Television Production Handbook, volume 10, page 105

   Light bounced from large white surfaces (e.g., matte reflector boards, or a white ceiling). Floodlights include scoops, broads, floodlight, banks, internally reflected units, strip lights, and cyclorama lights.

   2015, Jim Owens, Television Production, page 194

5. archaicslangA playing card.

   I reckon as old Sol couldn't ha' lived without a pack of broads. If he couldn't find anybody to play with him, he'd play alone, […]

   1927, Arthur Morris Binstead, The works of A. M. Binstead, volume 2, page 118

plural broads

1. USdatedA prostitute, a woman of loose morals.

   “Now we go up Bowery Street look at broads. Me pay.”

   1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, 1st section, page 94

   Synonyms: abandons, alley cat, almah, bangtail, Bankside lady, bargirl, bat, beotch

2. USdatedslangA woman or girl.

   The grunts resumed their bitching at the heat, the hills, and the lack of cold beer and hot broads.

   1984, Charles Robert Anderson, The Grunts, Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 157

   3 more examples

   They always hook you in the end, them broads. This whole trouble is on account of a dame reads a book.

   1950, Albert Mannheimer, Born Yesterday, spoken by Harry Brock

   Hey, man, Truck, you got to understand, she's a no class broad and you a gross son of a bitch. Naturally, she don't like you.

   1974, Oscar Williams, Michael Allin, Truck Turner, spoken by Jerry

   I mean, what the fuck. If a guy wants to get on with a broad on a more or less stable basis, who's to say to him no? Huh? A lot of these broads, you know, you just don't know, you know. I mean, a young woman in today's society, by the time she's 22–23, you don't know where the fuck she's been.

   1986, Tim Kazurinsky, Denise DeClue, About Last Night, spoken by Bernie (Jim Belushi)

   Synonyms: babe, baggage, bim, bint, bird, bitch, blone, chick

plural Broads

1. A surname.