DILATE, verb transitive [Latin 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, adjective Expanded; expansive.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI