multiply
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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multiplies,
present (3rd person singular)
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multiplied,
past participle, past
-
multiplying
present participle
-
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)
-
multiplies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
multiplied,
past participle, past
-
multiplying
present participle
-
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.
adverb
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
Derived Forms
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multipliableadjective
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self-multipliedadjective
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self-multiplyingadjective
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unmultipliedadjective
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unmultiplyingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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multiplysimple
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multipliessimple
-
have multipliedperfect
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has multipliedperfect
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am multiplyingprogressive
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are multiplyingprogressive
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is multiplyingprogressive
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have been multiplyingperfect progressive
-
has been multiplyingperfect progressive
Past
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multipliedsimple
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had multipliedperfect
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was multiplyingprogressive
-
were multiplyingprogressive
-
had been multiplyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of multiply1
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English multiplien, from Old French multiplier, from Latin multiplicāre; see multi-, ply 2
Origin of multiply2
Explanation
When you multiply two numbers, you increase the first by the same number that's specified by the second. In other words, when you multiply two by three, you add together three twos. When you're doing simple math problems, you can multiply by memorizing lists of times tables — or you can add one number as many times as the second number: four times two is the same as two fours, or eight. Another way to multiply is simply to increase or expand greatly: "If the diner starts serving homemade pie, their profits will multiply." The Latin root is multiplicare, "to increase," from multiplex, "having many folds."
Vocabulary lists containing multiply
Ratios and Proportional Relationships
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Number and Operations: Fractions
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Operations and Algebraic Thinking
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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:
"But at high energy, gluons within the proton split and multiply."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
The beach grows brighter as fires multiply from Malvarrosa down toward the port.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
Census Bureau, and is expected to multiply fourfold over the next 30 years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Boeing's MQ-28 Ghost Bat is an uncrewed aircraft, developed with the Royal Australian Air Force, to fly alongside crewed fighter jets carrying out electronic warfare and surveillance and to help multiply forces.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Unfortunately, as Zambardino noted, “the errors multiply each other and can escalate rapidly to an unacceptable magnitude.”
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Nuclear proliferation just multiplies the odds that there’s going to be a mistake or miscalculation that causes nuclear weapons to be used, so the world should definitely be focused on not allowing more nuclear countries.
From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026
Datadog, down 25%, and Snowflake, down 41%, are in this group, too, although they’re younger companies trading at high multiplies of earnings.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
Each reuse multiplies the value of the original dataset, ensuring that no discovery is wasted, every contribution can spark the next breakthrough, and researchers gain recognition for their work.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2025
JON LEVY: A glue player is the team member who multiplies everyone else’s results, helping the team win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2025
Within three months Ole and I had finished a set of experiments on the fate of a bacterial-virus particle when it multiplies inside a bacterium to form several hundred new virus particles.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
Mr. Walz launched a campaign for an unheard-of third term in September, before abandoning it four months later as the state’s fraud scandals multiplied.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Lawmakers agreed on the need for regulation, as warnings have multiplied over the harmful affects of social media on children.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
The researchers monitored how quickly each bacterial culture multiplied and whether its growth slowed or stopped.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
Alphabet’s Gemini wasn’t, but it multiplied its bets anyway, tending to lose more than half its bankroll.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Now that the number of soldiers has multiplied, they wield more power and the chief’s role has been reduced to that of a manager.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
It might not be accurate, but it is close enough that people can apply their situation to it by multiplying up or down.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Sandbanks are multiplying, depths fall to barely one meter in places, and the river's few remaining fishermen swelter in the heat.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
But even the number of claimed interceptions shows how the attacks are multiplying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Down and down they went, their buffer all but removed, their obsession about results elsewhere in the coming days multiplying as they went.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
The threads break away from the cell and drift into the bloodstream of the host, multiplying and taking over more cells and forming bricks and bursting the cells.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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.
