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
-
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:
Tripling volumes, hitting annual release dates like clockwork, minimizing risky capital investments and returning more than $1 trillion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks helped Cook multiply Apple’s valuation 13 times during his tenure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Canada would be very exposed if the import taxes multiply on both sides because 70% of its exports are to the US.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 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
The weekend gave me time to multiply my worries.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
A triple-leveraged ETF that multiplies those daily changes would wind up being worth about 1.4% less than the starting amount before expenses, which are often significant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 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
If we truly want to end violence in our communities, we must come to understand, as discussed in the final chapter, the ways in which mass incarceration increases—not decreases—violence and multiplies its harms.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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
But attacks have multiplied in 2026, particularly in the Gulf of Aden between Somalia and Yemen, which links the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
From that game on, TV games featuring high school football multiplied and schools began to travel around the country for marquee matchups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Over the years, their cachet as actors has only multiplied.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
You multiplied the tops of the equations and you got to minus X over six.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
After multiplying, the cells normally reverse that process and become mature, fully functioning liver cells again.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
Swonk argued that the "hawks" at the Fed -- those policymakers who consider it appropriate to raise interest rates to combat high prices -- were multiplying.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
“The attack surface is exploding. Every ungoverned asset and identity is multiplying the blast radius of AI exponentially,” McDermott told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
But even the number of claimed interceptions shows how the attacks are multiplying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
These things were wild, and they just kept multiplying.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
