expansion

1. 1.

   the act of increasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope

   Synonymsenlargement

   Antonymscontraction

   Broaderincrease

   Narrowerdilationdistentionstretchinginflationmagnificationextension
2. 2.

   a function expressed as a sum or product of terms

   “the expansion of (a+b)^2 is a^2 + 2ab + b^2”

   Broaderfunction

   mathematics

3. 3.

   a discussion that provides additional information

   Synonymsenlargementelaboration

   Broaderdiscussion

   Narrowerexpatiationembellishment
4. 4.

   adding information or detail

   Synonymsexpanding upon

   Broaderincrease

   Narroweramplificationannotationsupplementation

Other forms of expansion

plural

expansions·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about expansion

What does expansion mean?

expansion means "the act of increasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in expansion?

expansion has 3 syllables: ex-pan-sion. The stress falls on "pan". In IPA it is /ɪkˈspænʃən/.

What is another word for expansion?

Close synonyms include enlargement, enlargement, elaboration, expanding upon. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of expansion?

The recorded antonyms are contraction.

Is expansion a common word?

expansion is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.