'Expand' definitions:
Definition of 'expand'
(from WordNet)
verb
Extend in one or more directions; "The dough expands" [syn: expand, spread out] [ant: contract, shrink]
verb
Become larger in size or volume or quantity; "his business expanded rapidly"
verb
Make bigger or wider in size, volume, or quantity; "expand the house by adding another wing"
verb
Grow vigorously; "The deer population in this town is thriving"; "business is booming" [syn: boom, thrive, flourish, expand]
verb
verb
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" [syn: elaborate, lucubrate, expatiate, exposit, enlarge, flesh out, expand, expound, dilate] [ant: abbreviate, abridge, contract, cut, foreshorten, reduce, shorten]
verb
Expand the influence of; "The King extended his rule to the Eastern part of the continent" [syn: extend, expand]
Definition of 'Expand'
From: GCIDE
- Expand \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. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Expand'
From: GCIDE
- Expand \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. [1913 Webster]
- Then with expanded wings he steers his flight. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Math.) To state in enlarged form; to develop; as, to expand an equation. See Expansion, 5. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'expand'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- add to,
- adulterate,
- aggrandize,
- amplify,
- attenuate,
- augment,
- balloon,
- beef up,
- bloat,
- blow up,
- bolster,
- boost,
- branch,
- branch out,
- broaden,
- build,
- build up,
- bulk,
- bulk out,
- complete,
- crescendo,
- cut,
- deal in generalities,
- deepen,
- deploy,
- descant,
- detail,
- develop,
- dilate,
- dilute,
- discourse,
- disperse,
- distend,
- ecumenicize,
- elaborate,
- embellish,
- enlarge,
- enlarge upon,
- enter into detail,
- etherealize,
- evolve,
- exalt,
- expatiate,
- explicate,
- extend,
- fan,
- fan out,
- fatten,
- fill out,
- flare,
- generalize,
- globalize,
- go into,
- greaten,
- grow,
- heighten,
- hike,
- hike up,
- huff,
- increase,
- inflate,
- jack up,
- jump up,
- labor,
- lengthen,
- magnify,
- make a generalization,
- maximize,
- mount,
- multiply,
- mushroom,
- open,
- open up,
- outspread,
- outstretch,
- overgrow,
- overrun,
- parlay,
- particularize,
- prolong,
- protract,
- puff,
- puff up,
- pump,
- pump up,
- put up,
- pyramid,
- raise,
- ramify,
- rarefy,
- rehearse in extenso,
- relate at large,
- snowball,
- spell out,
- splay,
- spraddle,
- sprangle,
- sprawl,
- spread,
- spread like wildfire,
- spread out,
- stretch,
- subtilize,
- sufflate,
- swell,
- thicken,
- thin,
- thin out,
- tumefy,
- unfold,
- universalize,
- up,
- upsurge,
- vise,
- water,
- water down,
- wax,
- widen,
- work out