The invention relates to the fields of indoor tests in geotechnical engineering and geological engineering, relates to a tester for the lateral expansibility of a soft rock, and especially relates toa tester and a test method for the lateral expansibility and the expansion deformation of the expansive soft rock in the engineering field. The main body structure of the tester includes a loading cap, a pressure bearing plate, dynamometers, pulleys, a sample loading chamber, a water permeable plate, a sliding protection tank, a proving ring, a dial gage, a pressure display instrument, a filter paper, a bearing bottom plate and a stationary block. The test method makes the lateral expansion deformation and the lateral expansibility of the expansive soft rock under the action of vertical load have a high consilience with onsite data of the engineering, is an accurate test method for knowing the mechanical performances of the expansive soft rock in the engineering, and provides a basis for the lateral deformation of the soft rock.