[f. as prec. + -ING2.] That expands (in senses of the verb).
1. That opens out, or is opening out.
1776. Withering, Brit. Plants (1796), I. 239. Cup with 4 or 5 divisions, expanding, coloured, permanent.
1793. Beddoes, Math. Evid., p. ix. An unseasonable frost upon the tender petals of an expanding blossom.
2. That increases in bulk, or becomes enlarged.
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., Expanding-alloy. Such as expands in cooling. Ibid., Expanding-bit. A boring-tool whose diameter is adjustable.
1887. Spectator, 2 April, 458/2. Prosperity of many kinds, continuous and expanding, has been the characteristic of the period.
