amplifier
Americannoun
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amplifiers
plural
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a person or thing that amplifies or enlarges.
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an electronic component or circuit for amplifying power, current, or voltage.
noun
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an electronic device used to increase the strength of the signal fed into it
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such a device used for the amplification of audio frequency signals in a radio, etc
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photog an additional lens for altering the focal length of a camera lens
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a person or thing that amplifies
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of amplifier
Compare meaning
How does amplifier compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An amplifier is a device that makes an electronic signal stronger, and it's most often used to increase the volume of musical instruments. If you play electric guitar in a rock band, you use an amplifier. In scientific terms, an amplifier can increase (or amplify) any type of signal, including magnetic signals and optical signals. When people talk about amplifiers, they usually mean the ones used by musicians and sound engineers. If you plug your electric bass guitar into an amplifier, you can make the sound loud enough that your next door neighbors will be able to hear it. You can call an amplifier an amp for short.
Vocabulary lists containing amplifier
1-2-3 Scream!
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A standard kit includes two subwoofers, an amplifier and a timing module, with costs ranging from $600 to $1,000 per unit, depending on accessories.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Laney was playing bass in local band The Band of Joy with John Bonham on drums and Robert Plant on vocals when he built his first amplifier in his father's garage.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
A few paces away, Jerry Garcia’s “Budman” amplifier, once part of the Grateful Dead’s three-story high “Wall of Sound,” perched atop a podium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
What made that possible was a “pickup,” essentially a magnet mounted under the strings that turned vibrations into an electric current that connects to an amplifier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
Johnny had arrived two hours earlier with an amplifier almost as tall as himself that needed fixing.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Optical amplifiers work much like audio amplifiers, except they boost light instead of sound.
From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026
Setting up the business in 1967 he sought to design and build amplifiers with key "tonal" characteristics that were unheard of at the time, namely distortion.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
So I made ‘Planet Rock’ over and I was listening to it on these big amplifiers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025
Plus, China is the single supplier for various equipment for quantum computing, including laser diodes, mirrors, and amplifiers.
From Barron's ● Nov. 17, 2025
A present-day equivalent might be reproduced if the sound-effects man on Gangbusters and Walter Winchell should go on the air simultaneously, before a battery of powerful amplifiers.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
