Fill in the blank with an appropriate option. Until you confess your crime, the abdomen would ______ to grow and grow until you could not breathe.

continue

Until you confess your crime, the abdomen would continue to grow and grow until you could not breathe.

Explanation:

• Expire: This word means to come to an end or to die. It doesn't fit the context of describing the growing of an abdomen.

• Desist: This word means to stop or cease. It doesn't fit the context of the sentence, which is discussing the ongoing growth of the abdomen.

• Continue: This is the correct word choice. "Continue" means to keep happening or to persist without interruption, which accurately conveys the idea that the abdomen would keep growing until a certain point.

• Reckon: This word means to estimate or calculate. It doesn't fit the context of describing the ongoing growth of the abdomen.