multiply
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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multiplies,
present (3rd person singular)
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multiplied,
past participle, past
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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)
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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
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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
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were multiplyingprogressive
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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:
This temporary suppression gives immune cells time to multiply during an immune response.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
Cells need to multiply enough to replace what was lost, but that growth must eventually stop.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026
U.S. crude prices have jumped 19% in the past three weeks to trade near $101 a barrel as attacks in the Middle East multiply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Meanwhile, just seconds after it launched, $LAPTOP earned enough trading volume to see its valuation multiply exponentially, shooting up from $37 to over $200.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
We saw what happened when you multiply a number by zero: the number line is destroyed.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Because leverage multiplies your returns both on the way up and the way down, it turbocharges that basic fact.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 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
As his audience multiplies, Fish’s earliest followers remain enthralled by his seemingly infinite rise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
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
I know that death is never added to death; it multiplies.
From "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
In Syria, demonstrations have multiplied over recent days against a drastic increase in fuel prices.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
In Cibolo, a city north of San Antonio with a population of 36,000, an authority grant multiplied the number of Flock cameras from 11 to 52.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
For an ice cream truck visiting a summer camp, the TAM is all the kids at the camp multiplied by how much ice cream each kid would buy that summer.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
To unlock it, bad actors would have to figure out which prime numbers were multiplied together to produce the key, a vexing task.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 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
In lymphoma cells, the protein can stay stuck in the "on" position, continually suppressing death-related genes and allowing malignant cells to keep multiplying.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
As of June, Lumen had put down approximately 19 million “fiber miles,” which is calculated by multiplying the length of the route by the number of fibers inside each cable.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
We see Holbein’s image of Anne multiplying through an 18th-century oil portrait; Jacob Houbraken’s 1738 engraving and a constellation of miniature copies; and Queen Victoria’s sketch of Giulia Grisi singing in Donizetti’s opera “Anna Bolena.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
If one of those changes allows a cell to survive a drug that kills other tumor cells, that resistant cell can continue multiplying.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
“I sincerely hope you speak the truth, Elihu. These rebel committees are multiplying faster than rabbits in the spring. They’ve just about ground business to a halt.” ss “Have they interfered with you directly?”
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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.
