Having expanded, did encircle the former (7)
I believe the answer is:
dilated
'having expanded did encircle' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'former' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'former' could be 'late' (late can mean former or previous) and 'late' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'did' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dilated that I've seen before include "like pupils in the dark" , "Add tile (anag)" , "Made more open/wide" , "Opened up" , "Distended" .)