Passage in North and South expanding character (7)
I believe the answer is:
transit
'passage' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'north and south expanding character' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'north' could be 'n' (abbreviation) and 'n' is located in the answer.
'south' could be 's' (abbreviation) and 's' is located in the answer.
'character' could be 'trait' and 'trait' is found within the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for transit that I've seen before include "The process of going or passing - sic . . . . . . . gloria mundi" , "In - - (en route)" , "Passage of a planet across the sun's disc" , "The carrying of people etc" , "Shipment from A to B" .)