dilater

to dilate, to expand

verb dee-lah-TEH Rare

Usage Note

Dilater is used in medical contexts (dilater les pupilles — 'to dilate the pupils') and in physics or engineering to describe thermal expansion. The reflexive form se dilater describes something expanding by itself, for example les métaux se dilatent sous la chaleur.

Examples

"La chaleur dilate les métaux."

Natural Translation

Heat causes metals to expand.

Literal Translation

Heat dilates the metals.

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