Library / English Dictionary

EXPAND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become larger in size or volume or quantity

Example:

his business expanded rapidly

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "expand" is one way to...):

grow (become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "expand"):

balloon; billow; inflate (become inflated)

intumesce; swell; swell up; tumefy; tumesce (expand abnormally)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

expandible ((of gases) capable of expansion)

expandible (able to expand or be expanded)

expansible ((of gases) capable of expansion)

expansible (able to expand or be expanded)

expansive (able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Exaggerate or make bigger

Example:

The charges were inflated

Synonyms:

amplify; blow up; expand; inflate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "expand" is one way to...):

increase (make bigger or more)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "expand"):

puff up (make larger or distend)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

expansive (able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Grow vigorously

Example:

business is booming

Synonyms:

boom; expand; flourish; thrive

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "expand" is one way to...):

grow (become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "expand"):

revive (be brought back to life, consciousness, or strength)

luxuriate (thrive profusely or flourish extensively)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

The business is going to expand

Derivation:

expansible (able to expand or be expanded)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Expand the influence of

Example:

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

Synonyms:

expand; extend

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "expand" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Verb group:

broaden; extend; widen (extend in scope or range or area)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

expandible (able to expand or be expanded)

expansive (able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make bigger or wider in size, volume, or quantity

Example:

expand the house by adding another wing

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "expand" is one way to...):

enlarge (make larger)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "expand"):

develop (expand in the form of a series)

blow up; inflate (fill with gas or air)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

expansive (able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion)

expansible; expandible (able to expand or be expanded)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing

Example:

She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation

Synonyms:

dilate; elaborate; enlarge; expand; expatiate; exposit; expound; flesh out; lucubrate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "expand" is one way to...):

clarify; clear up; elucidate (make clear and (more) comprehensible)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "expand"):

detail (provide details for)

exposit; expound; set forth (state)

exemplify; illustrate; instance (clarify by giving an example of)

particularise; particularize; specialise; specialize; specify (be specific about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Antonym:

contract (reduce in scope while retaining essential elements)

Derivation:

expansion (adding information or detail)

expansion (a discussion that provides additional information)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Extend in one or more directions

Example:

The dough expands

Synonyms:

expand; spread out

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "expand" is one way to...):

grow (become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "expand"):

dispread (spread abroad or out)

bush out (grow outward)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Antonym:

contract (become smaller or draw together)

Derivation:

expandible ((of gases) capable of expansion)

expandible (able to expand or be expanded)

expansible ((of gases) capable of expansion)

expansible (able to expand or be expanded)

expansive (able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The finding could help expand scientists' understanding of the fundamental forces of the universe.

(Antarctic detector offers first look at how Earth stops high-energy neutrinos in their tracks, National Science Foundation)

Around 6 million years ago, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet expanded, stabilized and ceased producing large volumes of meltwater.

(Massive East Antarctic Ice Sheet has history of instability, National Science Foundatio)

This greatly expands the potential locations to discover habitable planets in the future.

(Newfound Frozen World Orbits in Binary Star System, NASA)

The mudstone indicates the presence of bodies of standing water in the form of lakes that remained for long periods of time, possibly repeatedly expanding and contracting during hundreds to millions of years.

(NASA's Curiosity Rover Team Confirms Ancient Lakes on Mars, NASA)

A study performed secondary to and in support of a primary or base study in order to support, enhance, or expand upon its results or findings.

(Adjuvant Study, NCI Thesaurus)

It could be expanded to test for other nutrients and health indicators, scientists believe.

(Test for life-threatening nutrient deficit is made from bacteria entrails, National Science Foundation)

G1.9+0.3 belongs to the Type Ia category, an important class of supernovas exhibiting reliable patterns in their brightness that make them valuable tools for measuring the rate at which the universe is expanding.

(Trigger for Milky Way’s Youngest Supernova Identified, NASA)

This tropical widening process is slow, however, expanding only 0.5 to 1 degree in latitude every 10 years.

(Greenhouse Gas ‘Detergent’ Recycles Itself in Atmosphere, NASA)

When injected back into the patient, autologous expanded mesenchymal stem cells OTI-010 may differentiate into various mesenchyme-derived cell types and, in some instances, may augment bone marrow engraftment after whole-body irradiation.

(autologous expanded mesenchymal stem cells OTI-010, NCI Thesaurus)

I have talked, face to face, with what I reverence, with what I delight in,—with an original, a vigorous, an expanded mind.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)