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

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

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 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

His pupils contract to pinpoints, dilate again rapidly, and then return to something resembling normalcy.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

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

It sucks and booms and splashes and rumbles; it shifts and dilates and falls over itself; the labyrinth of Saint-Malo has opened onto a portal of sound larger than anything she has ever experienced.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

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

"The doctor in the ring said her pupils were fixed and dilated when he saw her first and already there was a chance that brain damage had occurred," Weiler, now a professor, said.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 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

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