widen
v.to make something broader or more open. You can use it for physical things like roads or for abstract things like your knowledge.
v.to increase the width or extent of something; to broaden. Transitive when acting on an object, or intransitive when describing something becoming broader.
“The workers plan to widen the road next month.”
“The university hopes to widen access to its courses by offering more scholarships to students from low-income families.”
“As the river approaches the sea, the banks begin to widen significantly, slowing the current and allowing sediment to settle into a rich delta.”
The verb is both transitive ('widen the gap') and intransitive ('the gap widened').
Learners often use the adjective 'wide' as a verb instead of the correct verbal form ending in '-en'.
Usage widen scope
PIE word *dwóh₁ From wide + -en (verbal suffix).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.