expansion
/ɪkˈspænʃən/noun
mass noun
1- the action of becoming larger or more extensive扩大; 扩充; 扩展; 发展：
the rapid expansion of suburban London
伦敦郊区的迅速扩展
count noun a small expansion of industry.工业的小规模发展。
1.1
- extension of a state's territory by encroach-ing on that of other nations, pursued as a political strategy（领土的）扩张：
German expansion in the 1930s.
20世纪30年代德国的扩张。
1.2
- count noun a thing formed by the enlargement, broadening, or development of something扩大（或扩展、扩充）物; 扩大（或扩展、扩充）部分; 展开物：
the book is an expansion of a lecture given last year.
这本书是在去年所作的一个讲座基础上扩写而成的。
1.3
- the increase in the volume of fuel on combustion in the cylinder of an engine, or the piston stroke in which this occurs膨胀（指发动机汽缸或活塞冲程内燃烧中燃料体积的增加）。
词源
early 17th cent.: from late Latin expansio（n-）, from Latin expandere （see EXPAND）.