MEANING
To become wider or cause an opening, pupil, or passage to grow wider.
Use it for
Describe a pupil or opening widening.Offers a concrete physical reaction that can imply fear, attention, or changing light.
Words that belong together
- pupils dilate
- dilate the opening
- dilate in darkness
On the page
Her pupils dilated as the lights went out.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- dilate
- Past tense
- dilated
- Past participle
- dilated
- Present participle
- dilating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- dilate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are dilating
- Present perfect
- have/has dilated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been dilating
- Past
- dilated
- Past continuous
- was/were dilating
- Past perfect
- had dilated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been dilating
- Future
- will dilate
- Future continuous
- will be dilating
- Future perfect
- will have dilated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been dilating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Often used medically or physiologically; in prose it gives a measurable bodily reaction, as with pupils or nostrils.
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