expand
v.v. to become larger in size, amount, or importance. You also use it when you add more details to a story or an idea.
v. to increase in size, volume, quantity, or scope. When applied to discourse, it involves providing additional detail or elaboration on a previously stated point.
The company plans to expand its business into new countries next year.
Metals expand when they are heated and contract when they cool down.
The software developer decided to expand the application's functionality by integrating a cloud-based storage system that allows for seamless data synchronization across multiple devices.
Recorded in Middle English since 1422 (as expanden, expaunden), from Anglo-Norman espaundre, from Latin expandere (“to spread out”), itself from ex- (“out, outwards”) + pandō (“to spread”). Doublet of spawn.
The verb can be used transitively with an object or intransitively without one. When used to mean 'adding detail', it often takes the preposition 'on' or 'upon'.
He expanded about his plansHe expanded on his plansWhen the verb means to provide more detail, it requires the preposition 'on' or 'upon' before the topic.