dīlāto, āvi, ātum, 1, v. freq. a. and n. [differo].
I Act., to spread out, dilate; to enlarge, amplify, extend (class.; esp. freq. in Cic.).
A Lit.: (stomachi) partes eae, quae sunt infra, dilatantur, quae autem supra, contrahuntur, Cic. N. D. 2, 54, 135: manum (opp. comprimere digitos), id. Or. 32, 113: globum farinae, Varr. L. L. 5, § 107 Müll.: fundum, Cic. Fin. 3, 15, 48: castra, Liv. 27, 46 (opp. coartatio plurium): aciem, id. 31, 21: cicatricem, Plin. 17, 27, 42, § 251: patulos rictus, Ov. M. 6, 378: se mare, Plin. 5, 32, 40, § 141 et saep.—
B Trop.: ut aut ex verbis dilatetur, aut in verbum contrahatur oratio, Cic. Part. 7, 23; so, orationem, id. Fl. 5, 12; cf. argumentum, id. Parad. prooem. § 2: haec, quae dilatantur a nobis, Zeno sic premebat, id. N. D. 2, 7 fin. ; cf. id. ib. 3, 9, 22; Quint. 8, 4, 14: eloquentia dilatata (opp. contracta et astricta), Cic. Brut. 90, 309: litteras, to pronounce broadly , id. ib. 74, 259: nomen in continentibus terris, id. Fragm. ap. Non. 274, 7: quantis in angustiis vestra se gloria dilatari velit, Cic. Rep. 6, 20; cf. se (c. c. attollere), Quint. 2, 3, 8: haec lex, dilatata in ordinem cunctum, coangustari etiam potest, Cic. Leg. 3, 14 fin. —
II Neutr., to extend one's self ( = expandor): spatia montis in cubiculo dilatantia, Plin. 35, 1, 1, § 3 Sill. N. cr.