expansion

[ik-span-shuhn]

noun

1. the act or process of expanding.

2. the state or quality of being expanded.

3. the amount or degree of expanding.

4. an expanded, dilated, or enlarged portion or form of a thing.

   The present article is an expansion of one he wrote last year.

5. anything spread out; expanse.

6. Mathematics.

   1. the development at length of an expression indicated in a contracted form, as a 2 + 2 ab + b 2 for the expression (a +b ) 2 .

   2. any mathematical series that converges to a function for specified values in the domain of the function, as 1 + x + x 2 + … for 1/(1 −x ) when x < 1.

7. Machinery.,  that part of the operation of an engine in which the volume of the working medium increases and its pressure decreases.

8. an increase in economic and industrial activity (contraction ).

9. additional content for a video game, card game, board game, etc., that significantly expands or alters the way the game is played.

   I really improved my deck with cards from the latest expansion.

   You can play the stand-alone expansion without ever buying the original game.

expansion

/ ɪkˈspænʃən /

noun

1. the act of expanding or the state of being expanded

2. something expanded; an expanded surface or part

3. the degree, extent, or amount by which something expands

4. an increase, enlargement, or development, esp in the activities of a company

5. maths

   1. the form of an expression or function when it is written as the sum or product of its terms

   2. the act or process of determining this expanded form

6. the part of an engine cycle in which the working fluid does useful work by increasing in volume

7. the increase in the dimensions of a body or substance when subjected to an increase in temperature, internal pressure, etc

expansion

1. An increase in the volume of a substance while its mass remains the same. Expansion is usually due to heating. When substances are heated, the molecular bonds between their particles are weakened, and the particles move faster, causing the substance to expand.

2. A number or other mathematical expression written in an extended form. For example, a ² + 2 ab + b ² is the expansion of (a + b) ².

Other Word Forms

• expansional adjective
• antiexpansion adjective
• nonexpansion noun
• overexpansion noun
• preexpansion noun
• reexpansion noun
• self-expansion noun
• superexpansion noun
• expansionary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of expansion¹

First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin expānsiōn-, stem of expānsiō; equivalent to expanse + -ion

Example Sentences

Its expansion from a weekend to a weeklong event this year, notes Bridget Lawlor, preservation director for Pasadena Heritage, allows for more institutional partnerships.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The expansion of Medicaid under the legislation reached into red states, and increasing numbers of working-class white people decided that seeing a doctor mattered more than taking a stand against the former president.

Read more on Salon

Conservative think tanks maintain that these expanded subsidies represent an inappropriate expansion of government healthcare spending.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Highlighting her record as education secretary, Phillipson said she had fought "tooth and nail" for policies like the expansion of free school meals.

Read more on BBC

He thinks the expansion of partnerships with the private sector and with other countries in the region might help mitigate the impacts.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• development 
• enlargement 
• extension 
• increase 
• inflation 
• spread