[f. as prec. + -ER.] One who, or that which, expands (in senses of the verb). Chest expander: a calisthenic appliance for ‘expanding’ the chest.
1862. Lit. Churchm., VIII. 338/2. Nor can the animus of our ‘expanders’ [i.e., advocates of ‘Church Expansion’] be at all doubtful.
1867. Emerson, Lett. & Soc. Aims, vii. 183. Great love is the inventor and expander of the frozen powers.
1886. Freeman, Greater Greece, etc. (title of Lect.), George Washington, the Expander of England.
1887. Scientific Amer., 18 June, 394/1. A tube expander has been patented…. It is especially designed for expanding the ends of boiler tubes.
