FluentPlex

expansion

/ɪkˈspænʃən/ noun B2
  1. An act, process, or instance of expanding. (countable, uncountable) · The expansion of metals and plastics in response to heat is well understood.
  2. The fractional change in unit length per unit length per unit temperature change. (countable, uncountable) · Look up the expansion of 1018 steel at stick welding temps and figure out how far this thing's gonna bend once we weld it up.
  3. A new addition. (countable, uncountable) · My new office is in the expansion behind the main building.
  4. A product to be used with a previous product. (countable, uncountable) · This expansion requires the original game board.
  5. That which is expanded; expanse; extended surface. (countable, uncountable)
  6. The operation of steam in a cylinder after its communication with the boiler has been cut off, by which it continues to exert pressure upon the moving piston. (countable, uncountable)
  7. The replacement of a short name (e.g., acronym, initialism, alphanumeric symbol, abbreviation) with the longer name that is synonymous with it, as when spelling out acronyms to ensure clarity for a general audience. (countable, uncountable) · Expansion of acronyms is often helpful for nonexpert readers (anacronyms excluded).
  8. The string of text thus substituted. (countable, uncountable)

Plural expansions

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From the library

Matthew did not know that Samuel, in the recent expansion of his business, had set up a lady clerk also; she was a niece of his wife’s and a very dashing young person indeed, with a huge, drooping pompadour, big, rolling brown eyes, and a most extensive and bewildering smile.
Anne of Green Gables, p. 189 · C1
For decades, the red fox has been a familiar resident of the British countryside, but its expansion into urban landscapes is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Urban Foxes: Thriving in the Concrete Jungle, p. 1 · C1
Facing a severe domestic labor shortage during a period of rapid economic expansion, the Australian government actively recruited workers from overseas.
The Snowy Mountains Scheme, p. 1 · C1
The over-engineered capacity of his original design was so remarkably prescient that it accommodated the city's massive demographic expansion for well over a century.
The Great Stink and the Engineering of a Modern Metropolis, p. 1 · C2

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.