ex|pand´er

ex|pand «ehk SPAND», transitive verb,

1. to make grow larger; increase in size; enlarge; swell: »

A man may expand his business or his chest. Heat expanded the metal.

2. to spread out; open out; unfold: »

A bird expands its wings before flying. Expand thy sails…and catch the nimble gales (Alexander Pope).

SYNONYM(S): unfurl, expand.

3. Figurative. to express in fuller form or greater detail: »

expand a mathematical equation. The writer expanded one sentence into a paragraph.

–v.i.

1. to grow or become larger; swell: »

A balloon expands when it is blown up. Our country expanded by adding new territory.

2. to unfold; open out: »

As the plant grew, its leaves and flowers gradually expanded.

SYNONYM(S): unfurl, extend.

╂[< Latin expandere < ex- out + pandere spread. See etym. of doublet spawn. (Cf. ↑spawn)]

–ex|pand´er, noun.

–ex|pand´ing|ly, adverb.

Synonym Study transitive verb. 1, intransitive verb. 1 Expand, swell, dilate mean to make or become larger. Expand implies spreading out or opening out in any or all directions: »

Heat expands metal. Figurative. Our interests expand as we grow.

Swell implies growing bigger, usually from pressure inside or from having something added: »

His abscessed tooth made his face swell.

Dilate implies widening, and applies particularly to circular or hollow things: »

The doctor dilates the pupils of your eyes when he examines them.