enlarge
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to make larger; increase in extent, bulk, or quantity; add to.
They enlarged the house by adding an east wing.
- Antonyms:
- diminish
-
to increase the capacity or scope of; expand.
We've decided to enlarge the company.
- Antonyms:
- contract
-
to make (a photographic print) larger than the negative by projecting the negative's image through a lens onto photographic printing paper.
verb (used without object)
-
to grow larger; increase; expand.
-
to speak or write at large; expatiate.
to enlarge upon a point.
verb
-
to make or grow larger in size, scope, etc; increase or expand
-
(tr) to make (a photographic print) of a larger size than the negative
-
(intr; foll by on or upon) to speak or write (about) in greater detail; expatiate (on)
Usage
What are other ways to say enlarge?
To enlarge something is to make it larger or to add to it. How does enlarge differ from increase and augment? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
- enlargeable adjective
- enlargedly adverb
- enlargedness noun
- enlargingly adverb
- preenlarge verb (used with object)
- reenlarge verb
- unenlarged adjective
- unenlarging adjective
Etymology
Origin of enlarge
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English enlargen, from Old French enlargir, enlarger. See en- 1, large
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.
My body was covered in a handful of enlarged mosquito bites, many of them already open gashes from my relentless itching.
From Salon
He has used the novel tack of publicly proclaiming his lack of independence to enlarge himself.
There was a small potato cellar beneath the kitchen floor: they enlarged the trapdoor letting into it, put a large rug on top of it, and moved the kitchen table to stand on this spot.
From Literature
Swaying with exhaustion, Torak finished enlarging the snow cave, and walled up the entrance again, leaving a gap at the top to let out the smoke from the fire he’d promised himself.
From Literature
As deputy leader of the Green Party, he told LBC radio he "never believed that" women's breasts can be enlarged through hypnotherapy.
From BBC
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.
