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
-
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:
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
These changes can cause cells to multiply too quickly and ignore signals that normally tell damaged cells to die before they become dangerous.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 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
If we multiply by a hundred thousand our sense of loss for this work of Aristarchus, we begin to appreciate the grandeur of the achievement of classical civilization and the tragedy of its destruction.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The U.S. skilled workforce is aging fast, while demand for workers in the trades multiplies quickly because of surging data center demand and investment in advanced manufacturing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 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
Hunt is home to just over 1,300 people, but when summer comes around, the small city’s population multiplies because of young campers.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2025
Raising a number to the nth power multiplies its angle by n.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Over the past year, as companies have watched in awe as the size of their AI bills multiplied, many have turned to China’s open-weight models because they are often much cheaper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Rumors have run rampant for weeks over the couple's wedding, with no official confirmation, but clues have multiplied around Madison Square Garden.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Viruses multiplied more rapidly, the animals failed to properly activate their antiviral defenses, and their ability to fight infection dropped dramatically.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026
A tax break for investing in small businesses is being multiplied by two, three, four or even more times through the use of trusts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Sapiens were more proficient hunters and gatherers—thanks to better technology and superior social skills—so they multiplied and spread.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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
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
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
But the factors keeping budget travelers away are multiplying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Turtle returned to her calculations, multiplying numbers of shares times price, adding a broker's commission, trying to total the sums to the ten thousand dollars they had to spend.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
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.
