dilate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Atropine eye drops are typically used to dilate the pupil before eye exams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
As a result, blood flow to that area increases dramatically as blood vessels dilate, causing pain and swelling.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 21, 2024
Longer-term use of a catheter would only be needed if doctors were unable to sufficiently dilate the urethra.
From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
Just as the eye's pupils constrict or dilate like a camera's aperture to adjust how much light gets in, the ears too have their own way to regulate hearing.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2023
They widen a bit, and the pupils dilate or something.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
It's a different sort of time and it moves, it dilates.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2024
Their study, published Dec. 5 in the journal Cell, focuses on nitric oxide, a compound that dilates blood vessels, improves memory, fights infection and stimulates the release of hormones, among other functions.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 8, 2023
Adenosine is a by-product of energy metabolism, but it also acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter—a chemical messenger that affects brain cells and dilates blood vessels.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 25, 2023
It no longer dilates, and Hagelin struggled with depth perception early in his rehabilitation.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2023
At the edge of the rectangle, a thin slit of light dilates wider.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
And if the aorta is dilated a certain amount, patients often undergo an elective surgery to fix it.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
The fetus’ head was pressed up against her dilated cervix, and a miscarriage was, according to her medical record, “inevitable.”
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
About 35 minutes in, Lamphere’s vitals started spiking; her heart rate quickened, she grew hot, her pupils dilated, she began grinding her teeth.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2026
“I have been in lunch rooms where women are in labor, dilated, and trying to work until the very last minute because they don’t have enough days.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
One of his pupils was dilated and the other wasn’t, but no one knew what that meant.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Scholars and intellectuals dilating in their little books: None of that matters anymore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
Erectile dysfunction drugs, which work by dilating blood vessels to allow more blood to flow through, were first developed to treat high blood pressure.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 7, 2024
The exhaustive format played to President Macron's strengths: his mastery of detail and obvious delight in dilating on every conceivable subject.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2024
Some also have trouble with the lining of their small blood vessels not dilating and constricting properly to move blood through, she added.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
The Queen leaned toward her, and she was so close now that Kaede could see the Queen’s pupils dilating.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
Vocabulary lists containing dilate
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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Selected Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 1
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