dilate

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

For example, the pupil tends to dilate during complex cognitive tasks or in response to unexpected stimuli.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2023

The eyes seemed to expand and dilate until they filled the whole of Matthias’s vision.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

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

While mifepristone blocks progesterone, a hormone needed to support pregnancy, misoprostol contracts and dilates the cervix to expel the embryo.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2023

The drug also dilates the cervix and blocks the effects of progesterone, which is needed to sustain a pregnancy.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 8, 2022

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

Rhys Llewellyn, 40, was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy as a baby after struggling with breathing and putting on weight.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 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

My heart dilated at the prospect of travel through the streets of the town.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

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

Pain, shame, ire, impatience, disgust, detestation, seemed momentarily to hold a quivering conflict in the large pupil dilating under his ebon eyebrow.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë