expand, v.
(ɛkˈspænd)
Pa. pple. 5 expande.
[ad. L. expandĕre, f. ex- (see ex- prefix1) + pandĕre to spread. Cf. OF. espandre, mod.F. épandre to diffuse, scatter.]
1. trans. To spread out; to spread out flat or smooth; to open out, unfold; † to remove the folds or wrinkles from, to smooth (the forehead); also, to spread out to view, display. lit. and fig.
| 1432–50 [see expanded]. a 1667 Cowley Ess. Avarice 130 You laugh now, and expand your careful Brow. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth v. (1723) 264 The upper..Stratum that was expanded over those Valleys and Plains. 1706 J. Logan in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. X. 145 Money, like a mistress coming in view, expanded its charms. 1725 Pope Odyss. xii. 105 Expand thy sails, Ply the strong oar, and catch the nimble gales. 1768 Beattie Minstr. ii. xxvii. Where yon oak expands her arms. 1770 Gibbon Autobiog. (1796) 136 The descent of Eneas..to the world of spirits, expands an awful and boundless prospect. 1801 Southey Thalaba vi. xx, Here the rose expands Her paradise of leaves. 1848 L. Hunt Jar Honey x. 132 Sicily then lay expanded like a map beneath our eyes. 1877 J. D. Chambers Div. Worship 52 Stoles as a rule should not be expanded at the extremities. |
b. To develop what is implicit in (a statement); to write out in full what is expressed by (a graphical contraction). Also in Alg. to work out the processes indicated by the terms of a contracted expression and state the result in full; to express at length in a series.
| 1802 Woodhouse in Phil. Trans. XCII. 88 x·(1 + x)—1 must be expanded, and the integrals of the several terms taken. 1858 Todhunter Algebra 296 Expand each of the following expressions to four terms. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea xx. §824 Let us examine, expand, and explain this fact. Mod. The editor has expanded the contractions in the MS. |
† c. To give ample utterance to, ‘pour out’ (one's feelings); refl. to manifest unrestrainedly one's feelings; to overflow. Obs. Cf. Fr. épancher.
| 1656–81 Blount Glossogr., Expand, to declare or utter. 1660 tr. Amyraldus' Treat. Relig. i. ii. 19 He takes pleasure to expand himself in acts of goodness towards his creatures. 1801 Fuseli Lect. Art. i. (1848) 357 The adoring figure of a priest..expanding his gratitude at the shrine of the god whose arrows avenged his wrongs. |
2. intr. for refl. To spread itself out; to unfold, open out; to develop. Const. into, to.
| 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 859 Expand on hie, ga far about the wall. 1680 Dryden Epit. Sir P. Fairborne's Tomb, Like rising flames expanding in their height. 1684 R. H. Sch. Recreat. 32 Stars that will expand in flame, and appear like natural Stars. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 6 A weary waste expanding to the skies. 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) III. 675 Flowers..expand at 6 or 7, and close at 2 in the afternoon. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. v. 53 Hailed its folds with three cheers as they expanded in the cold midnight breeze. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. viii. 59 Streams..expanding here and there to deep green lakes. 1882 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 391 The Wickliffity ‘Known-men’..of Henry VIII.'s day, expanded into the ‘Gospellers’ of Edward VI.'s reign. |
b. To ‘open out’; to grow communicative.
| 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. i. (1865) 5 How would he chirp, and expand over a muffin. |
3. trans. ‘To spread out every way’ (J.); to cause to fill a larger space; to widen the boundaries, increase the area of capacity of; to dilate, enlarge: a. a material object. Also refl.
| 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 49 What Bodies are expanded by being frozen. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-watch 217 All the hot Passions of Anger, Joy, expand the Spirits, and give them a more vehement Motion. 1796 Hutton Math. Dict. I. 456/1 Air compressed..as soon as the compressing..force is removed, expands itself..to its former dimensions. 1835 Macaulay Sir J. Mackintosh Ess. (1854) I. 315/1 [The editor] has thus succeeded in expanding the volume into one of the thickest..that we ever saw. Mod. The object of this gymnastic exercise is to expand the chest. |
b. an immaterial object. Also refl.
| c 1645 Howell Lett. iv. xxix, Let Christianity expand her self still by a passive fortitude. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. ii. xviii, The grand object to which he [Columbus] dedicated himself seemed to expand his whole soul. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xviii. 333 Would these..changes..diminish or expand the faith..of the Chosen People? 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 626 The longer version only expands, and in no way contradicts, the shorter one. |
4. intr. for refl. To increase in bulk, swell; to become dilated or enlarged.
| 1807–26 S. Cooper First Lines Surg. (ed. 5) 403 To wet the sponge and make it expand. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 2 Cast iron expands in passing from the fluid to the solid state. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 202 When air is warmed it expands and becomes lighter. 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 789 The pith very soon begins to become turgid and to expand. |
fig.
| 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest i, Her heart expanded in momentary joy. 1836 W. Irving Astoria I. 47 Such is a brief outline of the enterprise..which continually expanded in his mind. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. ii. 18 As his knowledge and power of reasoning expand under instruction. 1885 Manch. Exam. 28 Sept. 4/7 Our trade with China is steadily expanding. |