mindmap root((扩大)) expand may apply whether the increase comes from within or without and regardless of manner, whether by growth, unfolding, or addition of parts: our business has ~ed with every passing year. amplify implies the extension or enlargement of something that is inadequate: ~ the statement with some details. swell implies gradual expansion beyond a thing's original or normal limits: bureaucracy ~ed to unmanageable proportions. distend implies outward expansion caused by pressure from within: a stomach ~ed by gas. inflate implies distension by or as if by the introduction of a gas or something insubstantial and suggests a resulting instability and liability to sudden change: an ~d ego. dilate applies especially to the expansion of diameter and suggests a widening of something circular: dim light causes the pupils of the eyes to ~.