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Capable of being expanded or spread out widely. Bodies are not expansible in proposition to their weight. Ex*pab"si*ble*ness ,n. -Ex*pan"si*bly ,adv.

The act of expanding or spreading out; the condition of being expanded; dilation; enlargement.

To expand; to spread; to extend; to diffuse; to broaden. Afford art an ample field in which to expatiate itself. Dryden.

To flatten; to spread out; to unfold; to expand. [Obs.] The horse-chestnut is . . . ready to explain its leaf. Evelyn.

Spreading or extending outwardly in a flat form.

To enlarge, as a surface or volume; to expand; to spread; to amplify; as, to extend metal plates by hammering or rolling them.

Something in the form of a fan when spread, as a peacock's tail, a window, etc.

Any bird of the Australian genus Rhipidura, in which the tail is spread in the form of a fan during flight. They belong to the family of flycatchers.

rate, measure, and comprehend; to get to the bottom of. Dryden. The page of life that was spread out before me seemed dull and commonplace, only because I had not fathomed its deeper import. Hawthotne.

e, coarse grasses, or other aquatic plants; boggy land; moor; marsh. 'Mid reedy fens wide spread. Wordsworth.

d in feelings or will; strong; as, a firm believer; a firm friend; a firm adherent. Under spread ensigns, moving nigh, in slow But firm battalion. Milton. By one man's firm obediency fully tried. Milton.

producing something, like the tail of a fish. Fish-tail burner, a gas burner that gives a spreading flame shaped somewhat like the tail of a fish. -- Fish-tail propeller (Steamship), a propeller with a single blade that oscillates like the tail of a fish when swimming.

Decorated by glaze splashed or irregularly spread upon the surface, or apparently applied at the top and allowed to run down the sides; -- said of pieces of Chinese porcelain.

To open or spread outwards; to project beyond the perpendicular; as, the sides of a bowl flare; the bows of a ship flare. To flare up, to become suddenly heated or excited; to burst into a passion. [Colloq.] Thackeray.

Lying at full length, or spread out, upon the ground; level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed. What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat! Milton. I feel . . . my hopes all flat. Milton.

rs, He says he does, being then most flattered. Shak. A man that flattereth his neighbor, spreadeth a net for his feet. Prov. xxix. 5. Others he flattered by asking their advice. Prescott.

To throw or spread out; to flutter; to move ostentatiously; as, a flaunting show. You flaunt about the streets in your new gilt chariot. Arbuthnot. One flaunts in rags, one flutters in brocade. Pope.

To spread over as with wool. [R.] Thomson.

f ornament, parade, bravado, etc.; to play with fantastic and irregular motion. Impetuous spread The stream, and smoking flourished o'er his head. Pope.

To flow and spread suddenly; to rush; as, blood flushes into the face. The flushing noise of many waters. Boyle. It flushes violently out of the cock. Mortimer.