expanse

[ik-spans]

See more synonyms for expanse on Thesaurus.com

noun

an uninterrupted space or area; a wide extent of anything: an expanse of water.
something that is spread out, especially over a relatively large area: that great expanse, the sky.
expansion; extension: the wide expanse of scientific knowledge.

Origin of expanse

1660–70; < New Latin expānsum, noun use of neuter of Latin expānsus, past participle of expandere to expand

Synonyms for expanse

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1. sweep, reach, range, stretch.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for expanse

stretch, plain, wilderness, tract, breadth, domain, sweep, sphere, radius, belt, span, area, range, width, spread, latitude, scope, territory, field, reach

Examples from the Web for expanse

Contemporary Examples of expanse

Kim Novak runs away from James Stewart, across an expanse of field.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
Somewhere in that expanse of California sky, I know Edith Jefferson will be doing the jitterbug.
David Jefferson on His Four Gay Marriages and a Legal Victory Against Prop 8
David Jefferson
February 7, 2012

Historical Examples of expanse

To the cast and north of our hill was an expanse of rolling, desolate wilderness.
The Long Labrador Trail
Dillon Wallace
But take, for the moment, the mere obvious matter of expanse of territory.
The American Mind
Bliss Perry
An expanse of smooth turf lay between the window and the sidewalk.
A Yankee Flier Over Berlin
Al Avery
The ceiling was an expanse of ornament, with an electric chandelier for centre.
A Great Man
Arnold Bennett
Beyond the volcano Jim could see what looked like an expanse of ocean.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930
Various

British Dictionary definitions for expanse

expanse

noun

an uninterrupted surface of something that spreads or extends, esp over a wide area; stretchan expanse of water
expansion or extension

Word Origin for expanse

C17: from New Latin expansum the heavens, from Latin expansus spread out, from expandere to expand

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for expanse

1660s, from Latin expansum, noun use of neuter of expansus, past participle of expandere (see expand).