enlarge

/ɪnˈlɑrdʒ/

/ɛnˈlɑdʒ/

Other forms: enlarged; enlarging; enlarges

When you enlarge something, you make it bigger. If you build a huge addition on the side of your house, you enlarge it.

You can enlarge a sand castle by dumping another bucket of sand on it, or enlarge your hairdo by curling and teasing it. When a photographer enlarges a photograph, she blows it up, or prints a much larger copy of it, and you can also enlarge an idea, or someone's understanding of it, by clarifying or explaining it. The Old French root of enlarge is enlargier, "to widen, increase, or make larger."

Definitions of enlarge

1. verb

   make larger
   “She enlarged the flower beds”

   types:

   expand

   make bigger or wider in size, volume, or quantity

   ream

   enlarge with a reamer

   deepen

   make deeper

   develop

   expand in the form of a series

   blow up, inflate

   fill with gas or air

   type of:

   increase

   make bigger or more
2. verb

   make large
   synonyms: blow up, magnify

   type of:

   increase

   make bigger or more
3. verb

   become larger or bigger
   types:

   amplify, magnify

   increase in size, volume or significance

   type of:

   grow

   become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain
4. verb

   add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
   synonyms: dilate, elaborate, expand, expatiate, exposit, expound, flesh out

   types:

   detail

   provide details for

   exposit, expound, set forth

   state

   exemplify, illustrate, instance

   clarify by giving an example of

   particularise, particularize, specialise, specialize, specify

   be specific about

   depict, describe, draw

   give a description of

   premise

   set forth beforehand, often as an explanation

   spell out

   make explicit; specify in detail

   type of:

   clarify, clear up, elucidate

   make clear and (more) comprehensible