as in expansion
a wide space or area
the great explorers who crossed the vast expanses of the seven seas in small ships
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of expanse
Large expanses of glass can counter the radiator's efforts to heat the room.
—
Lee Wallender, The Spruce, 17 Feb. 2026
Snug bucket seats challenge corpulent occupants, but look fantastic, as does the expanse of quilted leather that covers the parcel shelf behind the driver and passenger.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 16 Feb. 2026
The 100-light-year-wide expanse of the Rosette Nebula is estimated to have a staggering mass the equivalent to 10,000 suns and has been sculpted and eroded by the radiation from nearby stars.
—Anthony Wood, Space.com, 14 Feb. 2026
The Baffs hail from the small town of about 4,000, sitting two hours inland from the Australian coast, out in the expanse between Melbourne and Sydney.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for expanse
Lee Wallender, The Spruce, 17 Feb. 2026
Snug bucket seats challenge corpulent occupants, but look fantastic, as does the expanse of quilted leather that covers the parcel shelf behind the driver and passenger.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 16 Feb. 2026
The 100-light-year-wide expanse of the Rosette Nebula is estimated to have a staggering mass the equivalent to 10,000 suns and has been sculpted and eroded by the radiation from nearby stars.
—Anthony Wood, Space.com, 14 Feb. 2026
The Baffs hail from the small town of about 4,000, sitting two hours inland from the Australian coast, out in the expanse between Melbourne and Sydney.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for expanse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expanse
Noun
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Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images A week after Meta committed to using millions of Nvidia’s processors to power its AI expansion, the social media company has inked another mammoth chip deal, this time with Advanced Micro Devices.—
Katie Tarasov,
CNBC,
24 Feb. 2026
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At the Port Authority Bus Terminal expansion, half a mile uptown, Staller trained his lens on giant tubes of steel rimmed with teeth—core drill sections, frosted with snow, like colossal ziti topped with mozzarella cheese—which a crane was hoisting into place.—
Nick Paumgarten,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Phoenix shot the ball much more efficiently during that stretch.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
25 Feb. 2026
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The only unsettled matter coming into the contest centered on whether or not LAFC stars Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga, who combined for four goals and three assists in the first leg, would play with the team navigating a stretch of four games over 12 days.—
Josh Gross,
Daily News,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
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After two timeouts, Dent took the inbound on the left side of the court and drove the length of the floor before floating underneath 7-foot-2 Illinois center Zvonimir Ivisic to hit the game-winning layup.—
Sean Campbell,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Feb. 2026
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The slide path was estimated to be roughly the length of a football field.—
Michael McGough,
Sacbee.com,
22 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Expanse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expanse. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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