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Definition of "magnify" []

  • To make greater in size; enlarge. (verb-transitive)
  • To cause to appear greater or seem more important than is in fact the case; exaggerate: You have grossly magnified a trivial situation. See Synonyms at exaggerate. (verb-transitive)
  • To increase the apparent size of, especially by means of a lens. (verb-transitive)
  • To glorify or praise. (verb-transitive)
  • To increase or have the power to increase the size or volume of an image or a sound. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "magnify" in a sentence
  • "He said the attention stirred up by the ad helps to "magnify" the marketing message for the show."
  • "On Sunday, Thomas Ricks reported in the Washington Post that the US military has been conducting a propaganda campaign to "magnify" the role of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq."
  • "That requires ungainly software tools to "magnify" portions of the page in order to actually read the words."