dilate
verb /daɪˈleɪt/
/daɪˈleɪt/
[intransitive, transitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they dilate | /daɪˈleɪt/ /daɪˈleɪt/ |
| he / she / it dilates | /daɪˈleɪts/ /daɪˈleɪts/ |
| past simple dilated | /daɪˈleɪtɪd/ /daɪˈleɪtɪd/ |
| past participle dilated | /daɪˈleɪtɪd/ /daɪˈleɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form dilating | /daɪˈleɪtɪŋ/ /daɪˈleɪtɪŋ/ |
- (of a part of the body) to become larger, wider or more open; to make a part of the body larger, wide or more open
- Her eyes dilated with fear.
- dilated pupils/nostrils
- dilate something Red wine can help to dilate blood vessels.
- Horses sometimes dilate their nostrils when anxious.
- The patient’s pupils were dilated.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryDilate is used with these nouns as the subject:- blood vessel
- eye
- pupil
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French dilater, from Latin dilatare ‘spread out’, from di- ‘apart’ + latus ‘wide’.