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What is the antonym of the word 'Expand'?
A. Grow
B. Contract
C. Stretch
D. Enlarge
Correct Answer Is Option = Contract
Notes / Explanation
The antonym of the word expand is contract, and the study of antonyms, which are words opposite in meaning, is an important part of developing the vocabulary needed for the English portions of competitive examinations. An antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word, and learning antonyms helps a person to understand words more completely and to express contrasts and opposites clearly. The word expand means to grow larger, to increase in size, area, volume or extent, or to spread out and become greater. For example, a balloon expands when it is filled with air, a business expands when it grows and opens new branches, and a gas expands when it is heated and takes up more space. The word contract carries the opposite meaning, signifying to become smaller, to shrink, or to draw together and reduce in size. For example, a material may contract when it becomes cold, a muscle contracts when it tightens and becomes shorter, and something that had grown larger may contract when it is reduced. Because expand and contract describe completely opposite processes, with one referring to growth and increase and the other referring to shrinking and decrease, they are antonyms of one another. Understanding such pairs of opposites is very useful, because comparing a word with its opposite often makes the meaning clearer and easier to remember, and many ideas in science and everyday life are best understood as pairs of opposite processes, such as the expansion and contraction of materials with changes in temperature. The word expand also has synonyms such as enlarge, increase, grow and extend, while the word contract has synonyms such as shrink, reduce and shorten, and learning these related words together helps to build a strong and flexible vocabulary. When preparing for examinations, it is helpful to study words in groups along with their synonyms and antonyms, because this strengthens the memory and deepens the understanding of meaning. In tests, candidates are often asked to choose the word opposite in meaning to a given word, and a good knowledge of antonyms enables them to answer such questions quickly and correctly. For PPSC and other competitive examinations, the key points to remember are that an antonym is a word opposite in meaning to another word, that the antonym of expand is contract, that expand means to grow larger while contract means to become smaller, and that learning antonyms is an important part of improving English vocabulary.
