| Main Entry: | dilate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | stretch, widen |
Synonyms: |
amplify, augment, be profuse, be prolix, broaden, develop, distend, enlarge, expand, expatiate, expound, extend, increase, inflate, lengthen, prolong, protract, puff out, spin off, swell |
Antonyms: |
compress, constrict, contract, lessen, reduce |
| Main Entry: | balloon |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | billow out; bloat |
Synonyms: |
belly, blow up, bulge, dilate, distend, enlarge, expand, inflate, puff out, swell |
| Main Entry: | bloat |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | blow up like a balloon |
Synonyms: |
balloon, belly, bilge, billow, dilate, distend, enlarge, expand, inflate, puff up, swell |
Antonyms: |
deflate, shrink, shrivel, tighten |
| Main Entry: | bulge |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | project outward |
Synonyms: |
bag, balloon, beetle, belly, bilge, billow, bloat, blob, bug out, dilate, distend, enlarge, expand, extrude, jut, overhang, poke, pop out, pouch, protrude, protuberate, puff out, sag, stand out, stick out, swell |
Antonyms: |
cave in, depress |
| Main Entry: | develop |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | expand, work out |
Synonyms: |
actualize, advance, amplify, augment, beautify, broaden, build up, cultivate, deepen, dilate, elaborate, enlarge, enrich, evolve, exploit, extend, finish, heighten, improve, intensify, lengthen, magnify, materialize, perfect, polish, promote, realize, refine, spread, strengthen, stretch, unfold, widen |
Antonyms: |
circumscribe, compress, confine, decrease, lessen, narrow |
| Main Entry: | distend |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | bulge, swell |
Synonyms: |
amplify, augment, balloon, bloat, dilate, distort, enlarge, expand, increase, inflate, lengthen, puff, stretch, widen |
Antonyms: |
cave in, contract, deflate, fall, shrink |
| Main Entry: | enlarge |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make or grow bigger; increase |
Synonyms: |
add to, aggrandize, amplify, augment, beef up, blow up, boost, broaden, build, bulk, develop, diffuse, dilate, distend, elaborate, elongate, embroider, exaggerate, expand, expatiate, extend, give details, grow, grow larger, heighten, inflate, jack up, jazz up, lengthen, magnify, make larger, mount, multiply, pad, pyramid, rise, slap on, snowball, spread, stretch, swell, upsurge, wax, widen |
Antonyms: |
abridge, compress, condense, curtail, decrease, diminish, lessen, lower, reduce, shrink |
| Main Entry: | expand |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | extend, augment |
Synonyms: |
aggrandize, amplify, beef up, bloat, blow up, bolster, broaden, bulk up, burgeon, detail, develop, diffuse, dilate, distend, elaborate, embellish, enlarge, explicate, fan out, fatten, fill out, grow, heighten, hike, increase, inflate, lengthen, magnify, mount, multiply, mushroom, open, open out, outspread, pad, piggyback, prolong, protract, puff up, pyramid, slap on, soup up, spread, spread out, stretch, stretch out, swell, tack on, thicken, unfold, unfurl, unravel, unroll, upsurge, wax, widen |
Antonyms: |
abbreviate, contract, lessen, lower, shorten, shrink |
| Main Entry: | expand |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | go into detail |
Synonyms: |
amplify, beef up, build up, develop, dilate, discourse, drag out, elaborate, embellish, enlarge, expatiate, expound, extend, flesh out, spell out, sweeten |
Antonyms: |
abbreviate, abridge, shorten |
| Main Entry: | explicate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | clarify, expand |
Synonyms: |
amplify, clear up, construe, demonstrate, develop, dilate, elucidate, enlarge upon, enucleate, expatiate, explain, expound, give the big picture, illustrate, interpret, make clear, make explicit, make plain, run down, spell out, tell why, unfold, untangle, work out |
| Notes: | explicate also contains the implication that the something of which an account is being given is more complicated or detailed - so while one may explain why a child is crying, one would explicate the meaning of a poem or implications of a legal document; early senses of explain were 'smooth out' and 'spread flat' |
Antonyms: |
cloud, complicate, confuse, mystify, obscure, tangle |