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# dilate

verb (dilate, dilates, dilated, dilating)

«dilate» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To become wider or bigger, especially an opening in the body. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#m1)
2. The pupils of your eyes dilate (get bigger) in the dark so more light can come in. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#m2)
3. (medicine) A doctor may use drops to dilate your pupils to look inside your eyes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#m3)
4. (formal, rare) To talk or write at length about something. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#m4)

### In the lessons

In science lessons about the eye: pupils dilate in dim light and shrink in bright light; in health topics blood vessels dilate when you are hot; in maths «dilation» means making a shape bigger or smaller by a scale factor; phrases: «dilated pupils», «blood vessels dilate».

### Examples

- Your pupils dilate when you walk into a dark room. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#x1)
- The optician put drops in my eyes to dilate them. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#x2)
- When you are hot, blood vessels in your skin dilate. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#x3)
- Cat's eyes dilate into big black circles at night. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#x4)
- Watch a friend's eyes dilate when you turn off the light. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#x5)
- The nurse checked whether the patient's pupils were dilated. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#x6)
- The opposite of dilate is constrict. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/#x7)

### Note

Regular verb: dilated, dilating. Noun: dilation (also dilatation). In maths, a dilation is an enlargement: a scale factor of 2 makes every length twice as long; a scale factor of 1/2 makes it half. Opposite: constrict or contract.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «dilate» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dilate/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«dilate» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/dilate.html) on Mova free.