expansionn.
/ɛkˈspanʃən/ The action of expanding, the fact or state of being expanded.figurative.1662 R. Mathews Unlearned Alchymist (new ed.) §57. 61 That ocean or expansion of wrath.† 3.
1.
a. The action or process of spreading out or unfolding; the state of being spread out or unfolded; the opening of a bud, flower, etc. Also, †a spreading out to view, a display.
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the world > space > extension in space > [noun] > spreading out
spreadinga1250
spreadinga1382
outspreading?c1425
stenting1507
expansure1598
extensure1604
expansion1646
dispansion1658
extension1684
expanding1844
outspread1848
splaying1881
fanning-out1883
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iv. v. 191 The..distance betwixt the extremity of the fingers of either hand upon expansion . View more context for this quotation
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. iv. xxvii. 340 Whereupon there will follow a great expansion of Light, with vehement flame.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. ii. 101 The Spring of a Watch..if the String be broke..flyes out into its fullest expansion.
1701 N. Grew Cosmol. Sacra i. v. §20 The easie expansion of the Wing of a Bird.
1731 A. Pope Epist. to Earl of Burlington 12 The gilded Clouds in fair expansion lie.
1847 T. De Quincey Spanish Mil. Nun (1853) 18 A mob orator, whose brawling mouth open to its widest expansion, [etc.].
1867 J. Ingelow Laurance She..knew.. The pleasure of the leaf in exquisite Expansion.
b. The detailed expression of what is implicitly contained in a statement; the writing out in full the meaning of graphical contractions. Also in Algebra the process of working out a contracted expression (cf. expand v. 1b) and stating the result in full; the result or statement thus obtained.
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society > communication > writing > manner of writing > [noun] > detailed expression of implied meaning
expansion1858
1858 I. Todhunter Algebra for Schools xxxvi. §519 The subject of the expansion of expressions is..properly a portion of the Differential Calculus.
1858 I. Todhunter Algebra for Schools xxxvi. §524 To find the number of terms in the expansion of any multinomial.
1886 J. Edwards Differential Calculus 96 Now assuming the possiblility of such an expansion, let, etc.
c. Naval Architecture. The mathematical enlargement of a ship's lines from a drawing or model to the full size of building. Also attributive.
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1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding 186 Either a model of one side of the ship or an expansion drawing is prepared, on which to set off the edges and butts of the plates.
1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding 439 An expansion batten is applied to the line on the floor representing the moulding edge of the frame.
1877 S. J. P. Thearle Theoret. Naval Archit. I. 163 When an expansion drawing is made, the several strakes of plating can be shown upon it, also their thicknesses... It is obviously impossible to calculate the position of the centre of gravity from an expansion.
2. concrete. Anything that is spread out; an expanse; esp. the expanse of heaven, the firmament.
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the world > the universe > sky, heavens > [noun]
roofeOE
welkinc825
heaveneOE
heightOE
heavenOE
liftOE
loftOE
welkin1122
skies?a1289
firmamentc1290
skewa1300
spherea1300
skewsc1320
hemispherec1374
cope of heavenc1380
clouda1400
skya1425
elementc1485
axle-treea1522
scrowc1540
pole1572
horizona1577
vaulta1586
round?1593
the cope1596
pend1599
floor1600
canopy1604
cope1609
expansion1611
concameration1625
convex1627
concave1635
expansum1635
blue1647
the expanse1667
blue blanket1726
empyrean1727
carry1788
span1803
overhead1865
the world > space > extension in space > [noun] > spreading out > an expanse of something
spacea1382
widenessa1382
continuance1398
field1547
sheet1593
universe1598
main1609
reach1610
expansion1611
extent1627
champaign1656
fetch1662
mass1662
expanse1667
spread1712
run1719
width1733
acre1759
sweep1767
contiguity1785
extension1786
stretch1829
breadths1839
outspread1847
outstretch1858
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. i. 6 Let there be a firmament [margin. expansion] in the midst of the waters. View more context for this quotation
1659 J. Pearson Expos. Creed (1839) 70 This house of God..is not all of the same materials..there is a vast difference between the heavenly expansions.
1760 J. Beattie tr. Lucretius in Orig. Poems & Transl. 77 All that lies Beneath the starr'd expansion of the skies.
1823 C. Lamb On Some of Old Actors (new ed.) in Elia 312 Less time..than it took to cover the expansion of his broad moony face..with expression.
1840 T. Hood Miss Kilmansegg ii, in New Monthly Mag. 60 258 Venus and Mars Are rolling along in their golden cars Through the sky's serene expansion.
1862 D. T. Ansted & R. G. Latham Channel Islands i. iv. 64 Some..flat expansions of hard..rock, afford a kind of irregular pavement.
a. Extent; space to which anything is extended.
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the world > space > extension in space > [noun]
space1521
excourse?c1550
extendure1610
extendedness1674
expansion1690
extension1790
development1807
extensitya1834
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. vii. 54 The capacious Mind of Man..extends its thoughts often even beyond the utmost expansion of Matter.
1712 R. Blackmore Creation iv. 181 Lost in Expansion void and infinite.
1755 in S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang.
b. Pure space (see quot. from Locke).
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1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xv. 93 Distance or Space, in its simple abstract conception..I call Expansion, to distinguish it from Extension, which by some is used to express this distance only as it is in the solid parts of Matter.
4. figurative.1635 W. Habington Castara (ed. 2) ii. 155 My heart Expanssion wants, to thinke what now thou art.
a. The action or process of causing something to occupy or contain a larger space, or of acquiring greater volume or capacity; dilatation; an instance of this.
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the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > [noun]
waxingc1055
increasec1374
dilatationc1400
larging?a1425
magnification?a1425
bredingc1440
ampliation1509
enlarginga1513
dilating1532
ampliating1541
amplification1546
amplifying1553
propagation1563
enlargement1564
widening1569
growth1587
dilation1598
expatiation1612
diduction1634
expansion1635
extendinga1649
dispansion1658
elargement1680
expatiating1708
explicating1730
aggrandizement1772
extension1839
expanse1860
aggrandization1929
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 29 To prove the expansion of glass by heat.
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 49 What Bodies are expanded by being frozen, and how that expansion is evinced.
1693 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. viii. 27 The Condensation and Expansion of any portion of the Air, is always proportional to the weight and pressure incumbent upon it.
1782 Watt Specif. Patent 1321 5 The piston continues to descend by virtue of the expansion of the steam.
1830 R. Knox tr. P. A. Béclard Elements Gen. Anat. 235 They are furnished with tensor muscles, whether proper, or simply by expansion of their tendons.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 319 Some remarkable examples of expansion are furnished by the influence of sunshine on the Britannia Tubular Bridge.
1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 874 These movements depend not upon alternate expansion and contraction of the tissue..but, etc.
b. of immaterial things.
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a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) i. 19 Spread not into boundless Expansions either of designs or desires.
1856 B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. (ed. 3) I. i. 31 A high education..may..have the effect of preventing the full expansion of genius.
1864 D. G. Mitchell Seven Stories 69 I felt..an unusual expansion.
1879 M. Arnold Mixed Ess. Pref. 7 The love of liberty is simply the instinct in man for expansion.
c. Commerce and Finance. (a) An extension (of business transactions). (b) An increase in the amount of the circulating medium. More fully expansion of the currency.
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1847 J. Craig New Universal Dict. Expansion, in commerce, an increase of issues of bank notes.
1864 in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Nov. 7/1 In some directions there has been expansion, so that the losses have been partially neutralized.
d. Extension of the territorial rule or sway of a country.
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1882 J. R. Seeley in Macmillan's Mag. 46 456 (title) The Expansion of England in the Eighteenth Century.
1903 Sun (N.Y.) 1 Dec. 2 When he indorsed the doctrine of expansion the cheers were pronounced.
5. The amount or degree of dilatation.
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1790 Blagden in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 80 322 The whole expansion of pure spirit from 30° to 100° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, is not less than 1/ 25th of its whole bulk at 30°.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 32 Taking a proportional part of the difference of the two expansions.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 391 The expansion of the solid corresponding to two degrees of the thermometer, is twice the expansion which corresponds to one degree.
6. concrete.
a. An expanded or dilated portion.
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the world > space > extension in space > expansion or enlargement > [noun] > an expanded thing or part
ampliation1590
enlargementa1691
expansion1860
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. vii. 261 This lake [Geneva] is simply an expansion of the river Rhone.
1866 T. H. Huxley Lessons Elem. Physiol. (1869) ix. 239 The structure..of the sensory expansion in which the optic nerve terminates.
1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 544 The membranous expansions or appendages.
b. A product of expansion; what (a thing) is expanded into.
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1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies ii. 178 A man has a personal work..and a public work..which is the expansion of the other.
7. Steam-engine. The increase in bulk of the steam which takes place in a partially filled cylinder after communication with the boiler is cut off.The improvement introduced by Watt's patent of 1782 consisted in the economizing of steam by allowing the piston to be propelled, during the latter portion of its excursion, by the ‘expansion’ of the steam first introduced. An engine in which this is done is said to work ‘by expansion’. A double (or triple) expansion engine is one in which the steam passes from one cylinder into another, so that the expansive force is used twice (or thrice).
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > steam engine > [noun] > steam > increase in
expansion1782
1782 [see sense 4a].
1819 A. Rees Cycl. XXXIV. at Steam-Engine Mr. Watt's principle of expansion.
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 817/1 An automatic expansion is one which is regulated by the governor, and varies with the amount of power required.
1875 R. F. Martin tr. J. Havrez On Recent Improvem. Winding Machinery 80 The engineman must be able to work his engine with a variable expansion with as great ease as an ordinary high-pressure engine.
1875 R. F. Martin tr. J. Havrez On Recent Improvem. Winding Machinery 80 MM. Scohy and Crespin..took out a patent for applying a system of expansion to winding engines.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
expansion theory n.
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1886 F. B. Jevons in Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 7 292 Every form of the expansion theory [i.e. the theory that the Iliad is an ‘expansion’ of a smaller poem].
C2.
expansion apparatus n. = cloud chamber n. at cloud n. Compounds 2; see also quot. 1968 for expansion chamber n.
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1897 C. T. R. Wilson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 189 267 (heading) Conditions to be satisfied by the expansion apparatus.
expansion board n. Computing a circuit board that may be connected to or inserted in a computer in order to provide extra facilities or memory.
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society > computing and information technology > hardware > [noun] > electronic component, circuitry > expansion board
memory board1955
sound card1971
expansion board1978
accelerator board1981
accelerator card1982
expansion card1982
1978 Pract. Computing July–Aug. 4 The chassis houses the computer, power supply, fans, and has three additional slots for expansion boards.
1985 Acorn User Feb. 11/4 Watford Electronics' 32k RAM expansion board gives your Beeb 27k of program space plus 20k for graphics.
expansion box n. a chamber fitted to a pipe to allow for the expansion of the liquid, gas, etc., which flows through the pipe.
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1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 237/2 As the water warms, it rises through the pipe into the expansion box... To guard against the danger of exceeding the proper degree of heat, the expansion box is furnished with a pipe.
1939 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 43 748 The exhaust gases from a group of cylinders are discharged through a number of expansion boxes, the expansion boxes being shaped as a flattened streamline member lying in the airstream.
expansion card n. Computing = expansion board n. above.
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society > computing and information technology > hardware > [noun] > electronic component, circuitry > expansion board
memory board1955
sound card1971
expansion board1978
accelerator board1981
accelerator card1982
expansion card1982
1982 Pract. Computing Nov. 66 Very reasonably priced for those who already have an Apple II and expansion card.
1986 Managem. Accounting Aug. 56 If all the sockets on the Mother Board are filled..you will have to install an ‘expansion card’ to increase its memory.
expansion chamber n. see expansion apparatus n.
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1933 Discovery Apr. 107/2 This recoiling nucleus..is an efficient ionizer and so can be detected either by its electrical effect or its track can be photographed in an expansion chamber.
1968 Practical Motorist Nov. 333/1 Expansion tank (chamber), a small tank connected to the overflow of the radiator on some modern cars which collects water and steam forced through the overflow pipe. The water is drawn back into the main system when the engine cools.
expansion-coupling n. (see quots.).
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1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 816/2 Expansion-coupling. The coupling represented consists of an expansion-drum of thin copper x between the extremities of two pipes a i, Fig. 1901, which, in elongating, press the sides of the drum in, and draw them out in cooling.
expansion-curb n. (see quots.).
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1847 J. Craig New Universal Dict. Expansion curb, in Horology, a contrivance for counteracting expansion or contraction.
expansion-drum n. (see quots.).
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1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 816/2 Expansion-drum, an arrangement by which an occasional change of speed may be effected.
expansion-engine n. (see 7).
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1847 J. Craig New Universal Dict. Expansion engine.
1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 Sept. 13/2 These steamers..are provided with triple expansion engines.
expansion-gear n. an apparatus for cutting off steam from the cylinder at a given point of the stroke.
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1850 Pract. Mech. Jrnl. 3 28 (heading) Whitelaw's steam-engine expansion gear.
1875 R. F. Martin tr. J. Havrez On Recent Improvem. Winding Machinery 80 MM. Scohy and Crespin add to the regular form of cylinder the expansion gear of M. Meyer.
expansion-joint n. (see quots.).
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1849 J. Weale Rudim. Dict. Terms Archit. ii. 179/1 Expansion-joint, a stuffing-box joint connecting the steam pipes, so as to allow one of them to slide within the enlarged end of the other when the length increases by expansion.
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Expansion-joint, an attachment of the framing to the boiler, which allows the boiler to expand without bending the framing.
1882 Worcs. Exhib. Catal. iii. 5 Samples of improved expansion joints.
expansion-slide n. a slide belonging to the expansion-valve n.
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1848 W. Pole tr. E. Alban High-pressure Steam Engine 261 The expansion slide is made to act through the motion of the principal slide below.
expansion-valve n. a valve which shuts off the steam in its passage to the cylinder.
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1849 Fairbairn in Mechanics' Mag. 51 255 A new construction of expansion valves for condensing steam engines.
Draft additions 1993
expansion slot n. Computing a socket in a piece of computing equipment to which an expansion board may be connected.
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society > computing and information technology > hardware > [noun] > electronic component, circuitry > expansion slot
slot1978
expansion slot1980
1980 Practical Computing Aug. 82 (caption) The basic Tuscan board featuring the Z-80 CPU, 8k RAM, 8k ROM, on-board video and 1/0 section with five spare S-100 expansion slots.
1990 Which? Nov. 651/1 Many have expansion slots so that you can add extra memory, for example, but these are specific to each manufacturer, and your choice is limited.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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