Get the current computed, pixel, width of the first matched element. $("p").width(); 300 <p>This is just a test.</p> Set the CSS width of every matched element. If no explicit unit was specified (like 'em' or '%') then "px" is added to the width. Set the CSS property to the specified value. $("p").width(20); <p style="width:20px;">This is just a test.</p> <p>This is just a test.</p> $("p").width("20em"); <p style="width:20em;">This is just a test.</p> <p>This is just a test.</p>