EXPANSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does expanse mean? 

• EXPANSE (noun)
  The noun EXPANSE has 3 senses:

1. a wide scope

2. the extent of a 2-dimensional surface enclosed within a boundary

3. a wide and open space or area as of surface or land or sky

  Familiarity information: EXPANSE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXPANSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A wide scope

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

expanse; sweep

Context example:

the sweep of the plains

Hypernyms ("expanse" is a kind of...):

ambit; compass; orbit; range; reach; scope (an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control:)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The extent of a 2-dimensional surface enclosed within a boundary

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

area; expanse; surface area

Context example:

it was about 500 square feet in area

Hypernyms ("expanse" is a kind of...):

extent (the distance or area or volume over which something extends)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expanse"):

acreage; land area (an area of ground used for some particular purpose (such as building or farming))

footprint (the area taken up by some object)

erasure (a surface area where something has been erased)

blank space; place; space (a blank area)

space (one of the areas between or below or above the lines of a musical staff)

balk; baulk (the area on a billiard table behind the balkline)

plane section; section ((geometry) the area created by a plane cutting through a solid)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A wide and open space or area as of surface or land or sky

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("expanse" is a kind of...):

space (an empty area (usually bounded in some way between things))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expanse"):

sheet (any broad thin expanse or surface)

stretch (a large and unbroken expanse or distance)

 Context examples 

This expanse of about 19,000 miles (30,000 kilometers) represents the inner acceleration zone in the jet, where plasma feels the strongest acceleration and "turns on" by emitting light.

(NuSTAR Probes Black Hole Jet Mystery, NASA)

Observing the glaciers from ground level is difficult because of their huge geographic expanse and inaccessibility, so the researchers turned to satellite images.

(NASA Finds Asian Glaciers Slowed by Ice Loss, NASA)

For most of the giant expanse of Saturn's rings, the models correctly predicted how the rings cooled as they fell into darkness.

(At Saturn, One of These Rings is not like the Others, NASA)

Very large in expanse or scope; having great extent from one side to the other.

(Broad, NCI Thesaurus)

Looking round, there was hardly a moving object upon the whole vast expanse of green and purple down.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A relatively thin sheetlike expanse or region lying over or under another.

(Layer, NCI Thesaurus)

The occasional lamps gleamed on the expanse of muddy road and shining pavement.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A polynya that appeared in 2016 and 2017 offered a unique opportunity for oceanographers to monitor this expanse of ice-free water.

(Data from robotic drifters explain mysterious holes in Antarctic sea ice, National Science Foundation)

I looked out over the beautiful expanse, bathed in soft yellow moonlight till it was almost as light as day.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It was to the rear, somewhere in the snow expanse they had just traversed.

(White Fang, by Jack London)