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Expand vs Improve - What's the difference?

expand | improve | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between expand and improve

is that expand is to express (something) at length and/or in detail while improve is to make (something) better; to increase the value or productivity (of something).

In intransitive terms the difference between expand and improve

is that expand is to feel generous or optimistic while improve is to become better.

expand

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (label) To change (something) from a smaller form and/or size to a larger one.
  • (label) To increase the extent, number, volume or scope of (something).
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • Then with expanded wings he steers his flight.
  • (label) To express (something) at length and/or in detail.
  • To rewrite (an expression) as a longer, yet equivalent sum of terms.
  • To multiply both the numerator and the denominator of a fraction by the same natural number yielding a fraction of equal value
  • (label) To (be) change(d) from a smaller form/size to a larger one.
  • (label) To (be) increase(d) in extent, number, volume or scope.
  • (label) To speak or write at length or in detail.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Stephen Crane)
  • , title=, chapter=1 , passage=There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town. “Mason Rickets, he had ten big punkins a-sittin' in front of his store, an' them fellers from the Upside-down-F ranch shot 'em up […].”}}
  • (label) To feel generous or optimistic.
  • Synonyms

    * open out, spread, spread out, unfold * enlarge * (to express at length or in detail) elaborate (on), expand on

    Antonyms

    * contract * contract * factor

    Derived terms

    * expandable * expander

    improve

    English

    Alternative forms

    * emprove (obsolete)

    Verb

    (improv)
  • (lb) To make (something) better; to increase the value or productivity (of something).
  • :
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.}}
  • (lb) To become better.
  • :
  • :
  • *
  • *:“My Continental prominence is improving ,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
  • (lb) To disprove or make void; to refute.
  • *(William Tyndale) (1494-1536)
  • *:Neither can any of them make so strong a reason which another cannot improve .
  • (lb) To disapprove of; to find fault with; to reprove; to censure.
  • :
  • :(Chapman)
  • *(William Tyndale) (1494-1536)
  • *:When he rehearsed his preachings and his doing unto the high apostles, they could improve nothing.
  • (lb) To use or employ to good purpose; to turn to profitable account.
  • :
  • *(Isaac Barrow) (1630-1677)
  • *:We shall especially honour God by improving diligently the talents which God hath committed to us.
  • *(Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • *:a hint that I do not remember to have seen opened and improved
  • *(William Blackstone) (1723-1780)
  • *:The court seldom fails to improve the opportunity.
  • *(Isaac Watts) (1674-1748)
  • *:How doth the little busy bee / Improve each shining hour.
  • *(George Washington) (1732-1799)
  • *:True policy, as well as good faith, in my opinion, binds us to improve the occasion.
  • Synonyms

    * (to make something better) ameliorate, better, batten, enhance * See also

    Antonyms

    * (to make something worse) deteriorate, worsen * (to become worse) deteriorate, worsen

    Derived terms

    * improvement