expanse
Americannoun
-
an uninterrupted surface of something that spreads or extends, esp over a wide area; stretch
an expanse of water
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
Simulations were performed on Bridges2, Expanse, Frontera and Perlmutter supercomputers.
From Science Daily • Jun. 18, 2024
"Without Expanse, we would not have been able to run and rerun our analyses on such large datasets in a reasonable amount of time."
From Science Daily • Apr. 1, 2024
In The Expanse, a sci-fi series I’m reading, a character describes war as a “madness that’s in our nature”; it flares up and subsides but never vanishes for good.
From Scientific American • Apr. 27, 2022
The series is expected to be led by Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby, the executive producers behind The Expanse, as well as Rafe Judkins, the executive producer of The Wheel of Time.
From The Verge • Mar. 7, 2022
His voice was gruff, his language rough, His forehead villainous low, And 'neath his broken nose a vast Expanse of jaw did show.
From Humour of the North by Burpee, Lawrence J. (Lawrence Johnstone)
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.
