1
[ verb ] extend in one or more directions

Synonyms

spread_out

Examples

"The dough expands"

Used in print

(The New York Times,...)

The Continental_League never got_off_the_ground , but after two years it forced the existing majors to expand .

(Clement Greenberg, "Collage" in his Art and...)

All this expands the oscillation between surface and depth so_as to encompass fictive space in_front of the surface as_well_as behind it .

Related terms

shrink grow rise bush_out dispread

2
[ verb ] become larger in size or volume or quantity

Examples

"his business expanded rapidly" "The bag will expand when pressure is lowered"

Used in print

(Chicago Daily Tribune...)

The President , in a special message to Congress , tied_in with his aged care plan requests for large federal grants to finance medical and dental scholarships , build 20 new medical and 20 new dental_schools , and expand child health_care and general medical research .

(The New York Times,...)

The Soviet_Union and other members of the Communist bloc are rapidly expanding their economic , technical and military assistance to the uncommitted nations .

(The Atlanta Constitution...)

The department is planning to expand its eradication program soon to four additional counties - Troup , Pierce , Bryan and Bulloch - to treat 132000 acres infested by the ants , according to W._E._Blasingame state entomologist .

(The Dallas Morning News,...)

The firm recently expanded domestic sales into the Southeastern states as a result of an agreement with Cen-Tennial_Gin_Co. .

Related terms

grow swell balloon

3
[ verb ] make bigger or wider in size, volume, or quantity

Examples

"expand the house by adding another wing"

Used in print

(The New York Times,...)

He was delighted to learn that the Post_Office_Department is now going_to expand this service to deliver mail from Representatives in Congress to their constituents without the use of stamps , names , addresses or even zone numbers .

(Kenneth Underwood and Elden Jacobsen, "Probing the...)

On the positive side , recent Federal action has largely undermined the legal sanction so_long enjoyed by the segregationist position ; anti-discriminatory statutes in housing have now been adopted by thirteen states and , while specific provisions have varied , the tendency is clearly toward expanding coverage .

(Robert Deardorff, "Step by Step Through Istanbul"...)

Founded in the Ninth_Century_B._C. it was_called Byzantium 200 years later when Byzas , ruler of the Megarians , expanded the settlement and named it after himself .

Related terms

enlarge inflate develop

4
[ verb ] grow stronger

Examples

"The economy was booming"

Used in print

(Chester G. Starr, The Origins of Greek Civili...)

The dominant pottery of the century was Geometric ; political organization revolved_about the basileis ; trade was just beginning to expand ; the gods who protected the Greek countryside were only now putting_on their sharply anthropomorphic dress .

Related terms

grow revive luxuriate boom

5
[ verb ] exaggerate or make bigger

Examples

"The charges were inflated"

Used in print

(Evan Esar, Humorous English; a guide to comic ,...)

Such ambiguous exercises compound confusion by making it worse compounded , and they are sometimes expanded until the cream of the jest sours .

Related terms

increase puff_up

6
[ verb ] add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing

Examples

"She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation"

7
[ verb ] expand the influence of

Synonyms

extend

Examples

"The King extended his rule to the Eastern part of the continent"

Related terms

change widen

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