expanseex‧panse /ɪkˈspæns/ noun [countable] 
an expanse of blue skyvast/wide/large etc expanse the vast expanse of the ocean
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- We traveled across a broad expanse of desert.
- A man climbed to the top and gazed helplessly at the curved expanse of the copper-sheathed dome.
- Across the rooftops, a lone cop prowler was the only thing moving on the cold expanse of the Grand Canal.
- He had not been here before and he was alarmed by the vast expanse of water that now stretched ahead of him.
- If we live on continents, we tend to see the world as land inconveniently dissected by expanses of water.
- Sand-covered wooden steps hug a large man-made sand dune buffer, delivering us on to a vast expanse of pale beach.
- The Pequod moves softly through the blue expanse.
Longman Language Activatora large area of land
a large continuous area of land, water, or sky: expanse of: · We traveled across a broad expanse of desert.vast expanse (=extremely large area): · the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean
an area of land or water, especially one that is long and narrow: stretch of : · an empty stretch of highway· The stretch of coastline between Barcelona and the French border is called the Costa Brava.
a very large area of land of a particular type, for example, an area of forest or farming country: vast/huge/large tracts of something: · Vast tracts of Brazilian rain forest continue to be cut down every year.· There are large tracts of vacant land near the river, which could be used for farming.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY the vast expanse of the oceanCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES vast areas of rainforestCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
a very large area of water, sky, land etcexpanse of the vast expanse of the ocean (=a very large area of desert)· In front of us was nothing but a vast expanse of desert.
vast areas of rainforest· He accelerated up a dark and steep hill and finally they emerged on to the flat expanse of Blackheath.
· He crossed from the garage loft to the great expanse of his brick-built house.· The road to that decision point is a long one, traversing great expanses of science, technology, and economics.· To the North there are great expanses of beaches.· Music blares out from the theatre across the great expanse.· Beyond this channel the great main expanse of the lake towards the east opens out.· As a prairie youth I loved Vancouver and the great expanse of open sea, and hoped to live there some day.· The terrain is very varied from the great expanse of Dartmoor to the gentler stretch of Exmoor.
· But it was nothing compared to the strain of walking out on to that huge expanse of stage and facing the crowd.· Window problem: The huge expanse of windows on Darlington's new Cornmill Centre has presented window cleaners with a headache.· Bank upon bank of thrift and proud long-stemmed daisies intermingled with huge expanses of gorse and foxgloves.· There was something about this huge expanse of rugged land that changed his sense of time.· For the Great Fen that once covered the huge expanse of 2,500 square miles has shrunk to a tiny fraction.· In summer it is a huge expanse of grain-growing land.
· The walk southwards brings you to Widemouth Bay, a large expanse of golden sands.· The rest was given over to a bowling green and a large expanse of lawn; the potential for change was enormous.· West of the atrium is a large expanse of water popularly known as the port of Milan.· He seldom hunts in Gloucestershire because he finds the large expanses of flat and open farmland boring.· Alternatively it can be balanced by the large expanse of blank, negative mount, which will assert its texture.· The far wall was a large expanse of ornamented glass, with pitch blackness beyond.· Derelict land often forms the only large expanse of land that is not well-manicured and possessed by peak-capped officials.· This will give the curtains a larger expanse and create a striking splash of colour.
· He had not been here before and he was alarmed by the vast expanse of water that now stretched ahead of him.· The way paintings were hung, how sculpture and furniture were placed across the vast expanse, suggested landscape rather than decor.· Yet the whole was harmonious, welded together beneath the vast expanse of Virginia creeper which covered the walls to the eaves.· My mind is a blank, a vast, puffy expanse of nothingness.· Layers of colour, white, reds and vast expanses of different tones of green.· Sand-covered wooden steps hug a large man-made sand dune buffer, delivering us on to a vast expanse of pale beach.· The vast expanse of Exmoor national park starts at Combe Martin.· For example, Clarke scorns those who argue that mankind will not eventually move out to colonise the vast expanses of space.
· There had been such a wide expanse of firm ground that a trench had never been worn.· When operated in wide expanses of water, away from other people, jet skis pose no hazard.· If she goes forward now she will be visible; the wide expanse of grass leads to stone steps with a balustrade.· Then it happens again and Pip is left in the wide expanse of the ocean.· They were spread over a wide expanse of riverbank, back at the twisting curling Shannon river once more.· Young Pip is destroyed when he is left totally isolated upon the wide expanses of the sea.· Across a wide expanse of mahogany sat a man in his fifties.
an expanse of blue skyvast/wide/large etc expanse the vast expanse of the ocean