expand To expand something is to make it bigger. - Our company is expanding. (It’s getting bigger.)
- Dough for bread expands as it rises. (It gets bigger.)
- Problems may expand if they aren’t addressed.
- The number of people moving to the south continues to expand.
- Major league baseball has expanded over the years to 30 teams.
- As people get older, their waistlines expand.
- The hours of operation for a nearby store expanded to accommodate shoppers who needed to make purchases after 9 p.m.
- The U.S. economy continues to expand.
- The opposite of the word "expand" is "contract."

Many cities in the U.S. expanded rapidly after the 1940s. The word "expansion" is a noun: - A rapid expansion of the city’s population forced city planners to provide more housing.
- The opposite of an expansion is a contraction.
- The expansion of the universe started billions of years ago with the big bang.
- The Great Plains region of the United States covers a wide expanse. (The word "expanse" is also a noun.)
- The Pacific Ocean is an expanse of water too large to cross in a small boat.
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