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/ɪkˈspænd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo change (something) from a smaller form or size to a larger one; to spread out or lay open.
verbTo increase the extent, number, volume or scope of (something).
Sentence Examples
People want more money to expand educational institutions.
The blossoms expand under the influence of the weather.
Metals expand when they are heated.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The chef decided to ____ the menu by adding fifteen new Italian dishes this month.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company plans to ____ its operations into international markets over the next three years.
Word Origin & History
Recorded in Middle English since 1422 (as expanden, expaunden), from Anglo-Norman espaundre, from Latin expandere (“to spread out”), itself from ex- (“out, outwards”) + pandō (“to spread”). Doublet of spawn.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Then with expanded wings he steers his flight."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"This has evidently been encouraging, for the current winter timetable - not even with the benefit of summer holiday traffic - shows that the two trains each way have been expanded to four."
— 1961 October 26, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Scottish Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 594:
"When an ultrasonic beam is fired at the microcannons, the emulsion evaporates, expanding rapidly into gas. This creates enough force to push the nanobullets out at velocities reaching several metres per second."
— 2016 February 1, Tom Whipple, “Microcannon firing nanobullets: the future of targeted medicine”, in The Times:
"There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town. “Mason Rickets, he had ten big punkins a-sittin' in front of his store, an' them fellers from the Upside-down-F ranch shot 'em up […]”"
— 1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The chef decided to ____ the menu by adding fifteen new Italian dishes this month.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company plans to ____ its operations into international markets over the next three years.