amplify

[ am-pluh-fahy ]
See synonyms for amplify on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),am·pli·fied, am·pli·fy·ing.
  1. to make larger, greater, or stronger; enlarge; extend.

  2. to expand in stating or describing, as by details or illustrations; clarify by expanding.

  1. Electricity. to increase the amplitude of; cause amplification in.

  2. Archaic. to exaggerate.

verb (used without object),am·pli·fied, am·pli·fy·ing.
  1. to discourse at length; expatiate or expand one's remarks, speech, etc. (usually followed by on): The preacher amplified on the theme of brotherly love.

Origin of amplify

1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English amplifyen, from Middle French amplifier, from Latin amplificāre “to increase, augment”; equivalent to ample + -ify

Other words for amplify

Opposites for amplify

Other words from amplify

  • am·pli·fi·a·ble, adjective
  • o·ver·am·pli·fy, verb, o·ver·am·pli·fied, o·ver·am·pli·fy·ing.
  • un·am·pli·fi·a·ble, adjective
  • un·am·pli·fied, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use amplify in a sentence

  • Pliny supplemented and amplified the weekly newspaper, and so was very useful to Baines.

    Scattergood Baines | Clarence Budington Kelland
  • The quaint methods of previous witnesses are amplified by M. de la Rive.

    Devil-Worship in France | Arthur Edward Waite
  • The engineer tapped on the microphone, and the tap, greatly amplified, reverberated across the airstrip.

    The Flaming Mountain | Harold Leland Goodwin
  • The "belief" here referred to is somewhat amplified in other parts of the Bible, and notably in John iii.

  • I asked him to be more explicit, and he amplified his epigram into: "Pekingese."

    A Boswell of Baghdad | E. V. Lucas

British Dictionary definitions for amplify

amplify

/ (ˈæmplɪˌfaɪ) /


verb-fies, -fying or -fied
  1. (tr) to increase in size, extent, effect, etc, as by the addition of extra material; augment; enlarge; expand

  2. electronics to produce amplification of (electrical signals); increase the amplitude of (signals)

  1. (tr) US to exaggerate

  2. (intr) to expand or enlarge a speech, narrative, etc

Origin of amplify

1
C15: from Old French amplifier, ultimately from Latin amplificāre to enlarge, from amplus spacious + facere to make

Derived forms of amplify

  • amplifiable, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012