espouse vs expound vs expand :

espouse or expound or expand

The core meaning of “espouse” is “marry.” When you espouse an idea or cause in public you are proclaiming that you are wed to it, you are promoting it as yours.When you expound an idea you are explaining it. Theoretically you could expound an idea that you don’t personally espouse. “Expound” was traditionally used mainly to refer to detailed examinations of complex or obscure systems of thought, but it is most often used today to mean “to speak at length about” and frequently occurs in the phrase “expound on”: “the senator expounded on his love for the traditional family farm.” Sometimes in such contexts it would be more appropriate to use “expand on,” which means “to speak at further length about.” “Expand” in this sense lacks the systematic analytical connotations of “expound.”You never “espouse on” an idea; you just espouse it.

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Definitions
  espouse
  • v  choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans
    The candidate espouses Republican ideals
  • v  take in marriage
  • v  take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own
  expound
  • v  add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
  • v  state
  expand
  • v  extend in one or more directions
    The dough expands
  • v  become larger in size or volume or quantity
    his business expanded rapidly
  • v  make bigger or wider in size, volume, or quantity
    expand the house by adding another wing
  • v  grow vigorously
  • v  exaggerate or make bigger
  • v  add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
  • v  expand the influence of
News & Articles
  espouse
  expound
  • Dead Sea Scrolls discussion
    Speaker Zoltan Toman, a member of the Men’s Club, will expound on the Dead Sea Scrolls during the next Men’s Club meeting Friday, June 21, 9 a.m. Information: Peter Jastermsky, 203-378-5959.
    June 11, 2013 - Stratford Star
  • Dead Sea Scrolls discussion
    Speaker Zoltan Toman, a member of the Men’s Club, will expound on the Dead Sea Scrolls during the next Men’s Club meeting Friday, June 21, 9 a.m. Information: Peter Jastermsky, 203-378-5959.
    June 11, 2013 - Stratford Star
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