expanse
Americannoun
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an uninterrupted surface of something that spreads or extends, esp over a wide area; stretch
an expanse of water
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expansion or extension
Etymology
Origin of expanse
1660–70; < New Latin expānsum, noun use of neuter of Latin expānsus, past participle of expandere to expand
Explanation
An expanse is a huge area you can look at all at once. If you climb to the top of a mountain, suggest that your fellow climbers take time to admire the expanse of trees below. Expanse looks like the word expand. Both come from the Latin word expandere, meaning "to spread out, unfold." But where did expandere come from? Ex- means "out" and pandere means "spread or stretch." So an expanse is something that seems to unfold before your eyes, or to put it another way, something that stretches out as far as the eye can see.
Vocabulary lists containing expanse
The Giver
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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Mr. Popper’s Penguins
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Authorities and volunteers continued searching Sunday for a man who vanished on May 25 while hiking through a wooded expanse west of Lake Tahoe.
From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2026
The marvelous, real-life expanse of the Backrooms set allows Parsons to track his characters through the ceaseless spaces, their architecture subtly growing stranger the further they get.
From Salon • May 30, 2026
Sculpted into the eastern landscape, a series of stone terraces with a bluestone bar directly overlook Greenwich Cove and the vast protected expanse of Greenwich Point Park.”
From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026
On Thursday, his administration unveiled plans to transform one of the capital’s unassuming municipal golf courses into a luxe, 18-hole expanse that could someday host major tournaments.
From Slate • May 18, 2026
Faith and science, I have learned, are two sides of the same coin, separated by an expanse so small, but wide enough that one side can’t see the other.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
