broad

broad1 [ brɔd ] adjective ***

1. ) wide:

He was of medium height, but had very broad shoulders.

a broad shady path

With a broad sweep of his arm, he indicated the town below us.

a broad expanse (=a wide area): The road passed through a broad expanse of flooded fields.

─ opposite NARROW

2. ) including many different things or people:

a broad range/spectrum: I meet a broad range of people in my daily life.

Our radio station plays a broad spectrum of popular music.

a broad base: The party is now struggling to maintain a broad political base.

broad appeal: The new TV show has broad appeal.

broad categories: Tropical diseases fall into two broad categories.

─ opposite NARROW

3. ) if there is broad agreement about something, most people agree about it in a general way, even if they do not agree on all its details:

There is now a broad consensus that the president was right about this.

a ) expressed in a general way, without many details:

We need to define a broad strategy for future development.

broad aims: We support the broad aims which underlie this Bill.

a broad outline: This chapter can only give a broad outline of the subject.

in the broadest sense: It's conservative, in the broadest sense of the word.

a broad generalization: You make too many broad generalizations about people.

4. ) a broad ACCENT (=way of speaking) is very noticeable and typical of the area you come from, and may be difficult to understand:

a broad southern accent

a ) a broad smile is clearly shown and obvious

b ) a broad HINT is an instance in which you let someone know something in an obvious way without telling them directly:

He was giving us a broad hint about what he'd bought her.

in broad daylight

used for saying that a shocking or criminal event happens during the day, when it can easily be seen:

They'd robbed the bank in broad daylight.

it's as broad as it is long BRITISH SPOKEN

used for saying that you cannot choose between two things or actions because they are equal

=> BROADLY

broad

broad 2 [ brɔd ] noun count AMERICAN OFFENSIVE

an insulting word for a woman