Would you say that both ‘wide’ and ‘across’ are synonyms and equally used as adjectives? Also, do ‘breadth’ and ‘width’ mean essentially the same?
Thanks for dispelling my doubts.
“Across” is not an adjective; it’s an adverb. You can say that something is “two feet across” or “two feet wide”, but beware of the fact that “two feet across” can also mean two feet in diameter, and not just two feet across.
Breadth can mean width, but it can also mean thickness, which is not exactly the same as width.
Hi Conchita,
Just an additional thought about breadth. It’s often used in a figurative sense indicating great extent as in: breadth of knowledge/wisdom/experience. It also forms part of a pair with width meaning throughout as in: There was rejoicing across the width and breadth of the country when the war ended.
Alan