SG Heritage Dictionary

Expansion [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. The act of expanding or spreading out.

2. The state of being expanded; the enlargement of surface or bulk; dilatation. We apply expansion to surface, as the expansion of a sheet or of a lake, and to bulk, as the expansion of fluids or metals by heat; but not to a line or length without breadth.

3. Extent; space to which any thing is enlarged; also, pure space or distance between remote bodies.

4. Enlargement; as the expansion of the heart or affections.

Expansion [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. The act of expanding or spreading out; the condition of being expanded; dilation; enlargement.

2. That which is expanded; expanse; extend surface; as, the expansion of a sheet or of a lake; the expansion was formed of metal.

3. Space through which anything is expanded; also, pure space.

4. Enlargement or extension of business transactions; esp., increase of the circulation of bank notes.

5. The developed result of an indicated operation; as, the expansion of (a + b)2 is a2 + 2ab + b2.

6. The operation of steam in a cylinder after its communication with the boiler has been cut off, by which it continues to exert pressure upon the moving piston.

7. The enlargement of the ship mathematically from a model or drawing to the full or building size, in the process of construction.