Definitions for: Expand


[v] become larger in size or volume or quantity; "his business expanded rapidly"; "The bag will expand when pressure is lowered"
[v] exaggerate or make bigger; "The charges were inflated"
[v] grow stronger; "The economy was booming"
[v] expand the influence of; "The King extended his rule to the Eastern part of the continent"
[v] make bigger or wider in size, volume, or quantity; "expand the house by adding another wing"
[v] add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; "She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation"
[v] extend in one or more directions; "The dough expands"



Webster (1913) Definition: Ex*pand", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Expanded; p. pr. & vb.
n. Expanding.] [L. expandere, expansum; ex out + pandere to
spread out, to throw open; perh. akin to E. patent. Cf.
Spawn.]
1. To lay open by extending; to open wide; to spread out; to
diffuse; as, a flower expands its leaves.

Then with expanded wings he steers his flight.
--Milton.

2. To cause the particles or parts of to spread themselves or
stand apart, thus increasing bulk without addition of
substance; to make to occupy more space; to dilate; to
distend; to extend every way; to enlarge; -- opposed to
contract; as, to expand the chest; heat expands all
bodies; to expand the sphere of benevolence.

3. (Math.) To state in enlarged form; to develop; as, to
expand an equation. See Expansion, 5.


Ex*pand", v. i.
To become widely opened, spread apart, dilated, distended, or
enlarged; as, flowers expand in the spring; metals expand by
heat; the heart expands with joy. --Dryden.

Synonyms: amplify, blow up, boom, dilate, elaborate, enlarge, expatiate, exposit, expound, extend, flesh out, flourish, get ahead, lucubrate, prosper, spread out, thrive

See Also: alter, balloon, billow, bush out, change, clarify, clear up, detail, develop, dispread, elucidate, enlarge, exemplify, grow, grow, illustrate, increase, inflate, instance, intumesce, luxuriate, particularise, particularize, puff up, revive, rise, set forth, specialise, specialize, specify, swell, swell up, tumefy

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