Meaning
扩 means to expand, enlarge, or extend something, making it bigger in size, scope, or influence. It's commonly used in both concrete contexts (expanding physical spaces) and abstract ones (expanding influence, knowledge, or operations). The character is rarely used alone in modern Chinese and typically appears in compound words.
Usage
In everyday speech, 扩 almost always appears as part of compound words like 扩大 (expand), 扩展 (extend), or 扩张 (expand/dilate). Using 扩 alone sounds incomplete or literary. It's commonly found in business, academic, and formal contexts when discussing growth, development, or expansion strategies.
Examples
- 01公司决定扩大生产规模。.The company decided to expand its production scale.
- 02我们需要扩展市场份额。.We need to expand our market share.
Common collocations
- 扩大规模to expand the scale
- 扩大影响to expand influence
- 扩展业务to expand business
- 扩建to expand (construction)
Antonyms
Origin
The traditional form 擴 consists of the hand radical 扌(hand) and 廣 (broad/wide), suggesting the action of using hands to make something broader or wider.