expanse
/ɪkˈspans
/ /ɛkˈspans/noun
1A wide continuous area of something: the green expanse of the forest...
- Here we washed our feet before entering the wide expanse of virgin forest.
- We travelled by jeep and by foot through the wide expanses of paddy fields where women worked all day in the blistering sunshine with babies tied to their backs.
- The back roads are very much quieter than those I normally drive over, with much to see, and wide expanses of landscape to admire.
Synonyms
area, stretch, sweep, tract, swathe, plain, field, belt, region;
sea, carpet, blanket, sheet;
breadth, range, spread, reach, space, extent, vastness
1.1The distance to which something expands or can be expanded: the moth has a wing expanse of 20 to 24 mm...
- This is especially true given the size and expanse of the global economy.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from modern Latin expansum 'something expanded', neuter past participle of expandere (see expand).