amplifier
Americannoun
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a person or thing that amplifies or enlarges.
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an electronic component or circuit for amplifying power, current, or voltage.
noun
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an electronic device used to increase the strength of the signal fed into it
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such a device used for the amplification of audio frequency signals in a radio, etc
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photog an additional lens for altering the focal length of a camera lens
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a person or thing that amplifies
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of amplifier
Compare meaning
How does amplifier compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An amplifier is a device that makes an electronic signal stronger, and it's most often used to increase the volume of musical instruments. If you play electric guitar in a rock band, you use an amplifier. In scientific terms, an amplifier can increase (or amplify) any type of signal, including magnetic signals and optical signals. When people talk about amplifiers, they usually mean the ones used by musicians and sound engineers. If you plug your electric bass guitar into an amplifier, you can make the sound loud enough that your next door neighbors will be able to hear it. You can call an amplifier an amp for short.
Vocabulary lists containing amplifier
1-2-3 Scream!
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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:
The gig was organised as part of a promotion for an amplifier manufacturer.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Inside this amplifier, the pump light is generated within a resonator where it travels in a continuous circular path, similar to a racetrack.
From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026
A few paces away, Jerry Garcia’s “Budman” amplifier, once part of the Grateful Dead’s three-story high “Wall of Sound,” perched atop a podium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
In principle, such a plasma can act as an energy amplifier, producing far more energy than it takes to create and sustain it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
Across the room his stereo amplifier was on, die radio needle jumping.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Optical amplifiers work much like audio amplifiers, except they boost light instead of sound.
From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026
Lyndon Laney designed and built amplifiers which "helped shape the sound of generations of musicians," his company said, most notably that of his long-time friend Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
Plus, China is the single supplier for various equipment for quantum computing, including laser diodes, mirrors, and amplifiers.
From Barron's ● Nov. 17, 2025
“AI systems can become unintentional amplifiers of false information when reliable data is drowned out by repetition and virality, especially during fast-moving events when false claims spread widely,” the report said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2025
A present-day equivalent might be reproduced if the sound-effects man on Gangbusters and Walter Winchell should go on the air simultaneously, before a battery of powerful amplifiers.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
