扩张
kuòzhāng · HSK 7
expand
🎈 扩 = expand + 张 = stretch open; together: to expand, enlarge, dilate
扩 carries the sense of widening or extending, and 张 means to stretch or open out (as a bow being drawn). Stacked, they describe something growing outward — territory, a business, or a blood vessel dilating.
扩 — hand radical 扌 + 广 (kuàng/guǎng, wide)
扩 is the simplified form of 擴. It is a semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 suggests the action of pushing or stretching, while 广 hints at the sound and the idea of wideness. Together they convey 'to extend' or 'to expand'.
张 — bow 弓 + long 长 (phonetic)
张 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 弓 (bow) gives the meaning, originally referring to stringing or drawing a bow. The right side 长 supplies the sound. From 'draw a bow' it extended to 'stretch, open, spread,' and is now also a very common surname.