1.
[syn: elaborate, lucubrate, expatiate, exposit, enlarge, flesh out, expand, expound, dilate]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Expatiate \Ex*pa"ti*ate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Expatiated; p.
pr. & vb. n. Expariating.] [L. expatiatus, exspatiatus, p.
p. of expatiari, exspatiari, to expatiate; ex out + spatiari
to walk about spread out, fr. spatium space. See Space.]
1. To range at large, or without restraint.
[1913 Webster]
Bids his free soul expatiate in the skies. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
2. To enlarge in discourse or writing; to be copious in
argument or discussion; to descant.
[1913 Webster]
He expatiated on the inconveniences of trade.
--Addison.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Expatiate \Ex*pa"ti*ate\, v. t.
To expand; to spread; to extend; to diffuse; to broaden.
[1913 Webster]
Afford art an ample field in which to expatiate itself.
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
expatiate
v 1: add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning
of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; "She
elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation" [syn:
elaborate, lucubrate, expatiate, exposit,
enlarge, flesh out, expand, expound, dilate]
[ant: abbreviate, abridge, contract, cut,
foreshorten, reduce, shorten]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
26 Moby Thesaurus words for "expatiate":
amplify, descant, detail, develop, dilate, discuss, dissert,
dissertate, elaborate, enlarge, enlarge upon, evolve, expand,
explicate, narrate, particularize, ramble, recite, recount,
rehearse, rehearse in extenso, relate, relate at large, sermonize,
unfold, work out