multiply
1 Americanadverb
verb (used with object)
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to make many or manifold; increase the number, quantity, etc., of.
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Arithmetic. to find the product of by multiplication.
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to breed (animals).
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to propagate (plants).
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to increase by procreation.
verb (used without object)
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to grow in number, quantity, etc.; increase.
- Synonyms:
- mushroom, grow, proliferate
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Arithmetic. to perform the process of multiplication.
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to increase in number by procreation or natural generation.
verb
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to increase or cause to increase in number, quantity, or degree
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(tr) to combine (two numbers or quantities) by multiplication
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(intr) to increase in number by reproduction
Other Word Forms
- multipliable adjective
- self-multiplied adjective
- self-multiplying adjective
- unmultiplied adjective
- unmultiplying adjective
Etymology
Origin of multiply1
First recorded in 1880–85; multiple + -ly
Origin of multiply1
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English multiplien, from Old French multiplier, from Latin multiplicāre; multi-, ply 2
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.
But in practice, the plasma in a commercial reactor would need to multiply energy between 20 and 60 times, a threshold no system has approached.
“You could lose all your money or multiply it 20 times—and the chance was fifty-fifty,” he said.
Reports of enforced disappearances have multiplied in recent years.
From Barron's
Yet, again, his goal is not to provide numbers to be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided, but to shower his audience with numbers big enough to make their eyes glaze over.
From Los Angeles Times
As his audience multiplies, Fish’s earliest followers remain enthralled by his seemingly infinite rise.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
