thicken
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to make or become thick or thicker.
-
to make or grow more intense, profound, intricate, or complex.
The plot thickens.
verb
-
to make or become thick or thicker
thicken the soup by adding flour
-
(intr) to become more involved
the plot thickened
Other Word Forms
- rethicken verb
- thickener noun
- unthicken verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of thicken
1375–1425; late Middle English thiknen < Old Norse thykkna. See thick, -en 1
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.
When a hand with clawed fingers and thickened nails was put into his, he understandably left shaken to his core—and a confirmed spirit believer.
From Literature
My sympathy for Opal was fading with the thickening of her skull.
From Literature
On many tracks, he crafts a thickened variation on Bob Dylan’s wild mercury sound, with gurgling organ, touches of strings and horns, and evocative swells of pedal-steel guitar.
Simmer until the liquid reduces and the starches thicken into something spoonable and lush.
From Salon
To get older, wiser and have your skin thickened by all the slings and arrows?
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.
