Word.ws English Dictionary

dilated

/daɪˈleɪtɪd/

dilated adjective: having undergone dilation; enlarged. Also the simple past and past participle of dilate.

Adjective

dilated (comparative more dilated, superlative most dilated)

  1. Having undergone dilation; enlarged.
    • Now the rays of yellow being more refracted by the first Superficies of the said Air than those of red, are thereby made more oblique to the second Superficies, at which they are reflected to produce the colour'd Rings, and consequently the yellow Circle in each Ring will be more dilated than the...1704, Isaac Newton, Newton's Opticks
    • Is a little better, more conscious, and quieter, bowels purged, mercurial stools, pulse jerking 144, right pupil rather more dilated than the left.1847, Samuel Solly, The Human Brain, page 318
  2. Relatively large.
    • The sternum forms a long, linear, deeply channeled lobe, between the coxæ, the apex very dilated, cordate, with a very elevated ridge in the centre, like a nose in profile1855, John Curtis, “Remarks relative to the affinities and analogies of natural objects, more particularly of Hypocephalus, a Genus of Coleoptera”, in The transactions of the Linnean Society of London
    • Of the same form as C. 12-guttata, but having the elytra of the female more dilated, and the apical serratures and the sutural spine much more distinct.1860, John L. Le Conte, “Revision of the Cicindelæ of the United States”, in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, page 41

Also used as

dilated is also the simple past and past participle of dilate.

Examples of dilated in a sentence

  • Both pupils were very dilated, and quite inactive, excepting that she could distinguish light from darkness with the RIGHT eye, was quite blind, and had lost all power of smell.1864, month=October, John W. Ogle, “Original Communications: Cases illustrating the Formation of Morbid Growths, Deposits, Tumours, Cysts...
  • Wecker found with ophthalmoscope a pale papilla, indications of hypertrophy of cellular tissue, very dilated veins, and some little hæmorrhagic spots.2023, Walter Rivington, A Case of Pulsating Tumour of the Left Orbit, page 107:
  • A species very easily distinguished from the others by its very dilated black wings, which have only a few marginal hyaline spots and very few discal subhyaline dots.1914, Memoirs of the Indian Museum, page 162:

All 14 example sentences with dilated

Forms of dilated

comparativemore dilated
superlativemost dilated

Words formed from dilated

Words that rhyme with dilated

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about dilated

What does dilated mean?
Dilated means having undergone dilation; enlarged.
How do you use dilated in a sentence?
Both pupils were very dilated, and quite inactive, excepting that she could distinguish light from darkness with the RIGHT eye, was quite blind, and had lost all power of smell.
What part of speech is dilated?
Dilated is an adjective.
How do you pronounce dilated?
Dilated is pronounced /daɪˈleɪtɪd/ (UK).

Words near dilated in the dictionary

  1. dilatative
  2. dilatator
  3. dilatators
  4. dilatatory
  5. dilate
  6. dilated
  7. dilatedly
  8. dilatedness
  9. dilater
  10. dilaters
  11. dilates

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dilated (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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