See Also: wax expansion(medicine)
Expansion(money)
expansion(dictionary)
Expansion(medicine)
Expansion(finance)
expansion(dictionary)
Expansion Phase(money)
Internal expansion(money)
Internal expansion(finance)
thermal expansion(encyclopedia)

expansion (iou)



expansion noun. E17.
[Late Latin expansio(n-), formed as EXPANSIBLE: see -ION.]
The action of spreading out or extending; the condition of being spread out or extended. E17.
Pope The gilded clouds in fair expansion lie. D. H. Lawrence The lotus..opens with an expansion such as no other flower knows.
Something spread out, an expanse; (arch.) the firmament. E17.
b. The immensity of space. L17-E18.
The action or process of making or becoming greater in area, bulk, capacity, etc.; enlargement, dilatation; the amount or degree of this. M17.
S. H. Vines Alternate expansion and contraction of the tissue.
b. An increase in the scope of the activities or the scale of the operations of a company, country, etc. M19.
Times Encouraging the expansion of exports. J. W. Krutch What we call prosperity depends upon continual expansion.
c. Increase in the amount of territory ruled or controlled by a country. L19.
The detailed expression of what is implicit in a statement; the writing out in full of something abbreviated; Math. the process of working out a product, power, or function and expressing it in simpler terms as a sum; the sum itself. E19.
An enlarged portion; something formed by the expansion of a thing. M19.
J. Tyndall This lake is simply an expansion of the river Rhone.
Comb.: expansion bit a drilling bit that can be adjusted to drill holes of different sizes; expansion board a circuit board that can be connected to or inserted in a computer to give extra facilities; expansion bolt: that expands when inserted, no thread being required; expansion box (a) a chamber to allow for expansion of a fluid or into which expansion occurs; (b) a unit that can be connected to a computer to give extra facilities; expansion card = expansion board above; expansion engine a steam engine in which expansion of the steam in the cylinder contributes to the force on the piston; expansion joint: made to allow for the thermal expansion of the parts that it joins; expansion slot a place in a computer where an expansion board can be added.
expansional adjective E20.
expansionary adjective tending or directed towards (economic) expansion M20.