branch out

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branch out (third-person singular simple present branches out, present participle branching out, simple past and past participle branched out)

1. (intransitive) To expand in the manner of branches.

   The chart starts in the center and branches out from there.

2. (intransitive, idiomatic) To expand one's interests or activities in a new direction.

   Studying Latin may make it easier to branch out into Spanish or Italian.

   • 2008 October, Mark Jenkins, “Need surgery? Call a travel agent”, in Men's Health, volume 23, number 8, →ISSN, page 152:

     Once relegated to facelifts and fat reduction, medical tourism has branched out into almost every kind of procedure, including bypass surgery, heart-valve replacement, angioplasty, knee reconstruction, and spinal fusion.

   • 2024 March 6, Pip Dunn, “Freight's future is in ISO containers”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 36:

     Here's the briefest history of rail freight. The railways are conceived for moving coal. They do well at that and immediately branch out into other freight. They do quite well at that, too - after all, compared with a horse and cart, they are a revelation.

3. (obsolete, printing) To white out or expand the whitespace around the title or other words, lines, etc. in a document.

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