dilate

Atropine eye drops are typically used to dilate the pupil before eye exams.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

However, in their new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, the researchers reported that a person's pupils also dilate when they are concentrating on tasks.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2024

At regular concentrations of about 1 percent, atropine is used to dilate the pupil for eye exams.

From National Geographic ● Nov. 1, 2023

And it is still widely considered effective as a nasal spray, or when it is used in surgery and to dilate the eyes.

From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2023

Doth the heart not dilate, the humors circulate?

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

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

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

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

Her daughters Lucie and Isobel, now 16 and 10 respectively, have each had a heart transplant after being diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition where the left ventricle becomes enlarged and weakened.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025

How his pupils must have shrunk and then dilated, open and vulnerable.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

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