DILATE, v.t. [L. See Delay.] 1. To expand; to distend; to enlarge or extend in all directions; opposed to contract. The air dilates the lungs; air is dilated by rarefaction.2. To enlarge; to relate at large; to tell copiously or diffusely; as, to dilate upon the policy of a measure. In this sense, it is generally used intransitively. Spenser and Shakespeare have used it in a transitive sense; as, to dilate a theme.DILATE, a. Expanded; expansive.
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