From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishexpanseex‧panse /ɪkˈspæns/ noun [countable] AREAa very large area of water, sky, land etcexpanse of an expanse of blue skyvast/wide/large etc expanse the vast expanse of the ocean
Examples from the Corpus
expanse• The Pequod moves softly through the blue expanse.• We traveled across a broad expanse of desert.• If we live on continents, we tend to see the world as land inconveniently dissected by expanses of water.• Across the rooftops, a lone cop prowler was the only thing moving on the cold expanse of the Grand Canal.• A man climbed to the top and gazed helplessly at the curved expanse of the copper-sheathed dome.• Sand-covered wooden steps hug a large man-made sand dune buffer, delivering us on to a vast expanse of pale beach.• He had not been here before and he was alarmed by the vast expanse of water that now stretched ahead of him.expanse of• the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean 