expansion
expansion — 名詞
1. The process by which something becomes larger in physical size, greater in amoun
擴張；膨脹
在大小、數量或重要性上增長
The process by which something becomes larger in physical size, greater in amount or number, or wider in scope or importance — for example, when a company opens branches in new countries, a city adds more buildings and suburbs, or a heated gas fills a bigger volume.
The company's rapid expansion into Asian markets created over 200 new jobs.
該公司快速擴張至亞洲市場，創造了超過 200 個新職缺。
collocation: expansion into [market/region]
Tuan measured the expansion of the metal rod when he heated it to 200 degrees.
Tuan 測量了金屬棒加熱到攝氏兩百度時的膨脹程度。
scientific context: thermal expansion of materials
The university announced a major expansion of its engineering programme next year.
該大學宣布明年將大幅擴充其工程學程。
Esteban noticed the city expansion had reached the village where he grew up.
Esteban 注意到城市的擴張已經延伸到他所長大的村莊。
Economic expansion usually leads to more opportunities for young workers.
經濟擴張通常會為年輕工作者帶來更多機會。
- growth
broader term; can refer to natural or organic increase, not necessarily deliberate
- increase
focuses on amount or number rather than physical size or scope
- enlargement
more specific to physical size; less common for abstract concepts like importance
- extension
suggests adding extra length or time to something already existing
- contraction
the process of becoming smaller in size or less in economic activity
- reduction
focuses on decrease in amount, number, or degree
文法句型
expansion + of + noun (what is growing)
expansion + into + noun (new area or market)
adjective + expansion (rapid / major / gradual expansion)
用法筆記
Often used with of to name what is growing (expansion of the population) or with into to name a new area being entered (expansion into Europe). Can be countable when referring to a particular instance (a rapid expansion of the tech sector) or uncountable when speaking generally (rapid expansion can cause problems).