augment

… a former member of Brunet's team, Jean-Renaud Boisserie of Berkeley, is in the Middle Awash seeking to augment the animal fossil record—particularly that of hippopotamuses. —Rex Dalton, Nature, 5 Jan. 2006
These reserve units will soon be augmented by full-time Maritime Safety and Security Teams. The first of these teams was formed on July 3; a dozen more are supposed to be created within the next three years. —David Helvarg, Popular Science, September 2002
The sale of its shares in such companies has helped augment its cash reserves from $1.7 billion to $2 billion. Call it a rainy-day fund—something that other dot-coms never had. But the move also suggests that even Yahoo has lost faith in the once boundless promise of Internet companies. —Brad Stone, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2001
The money augmented his fortune.
Heavy rains augmented the water supply.

Recent Examples of augment from the Web

Underneath, Land Rover’s unique full-time four-wheel-drive system has been augmented by locking differentials, front and rear.

— wes siler, Outside Online, "This Old Land Rover Is the Best Road-Trip Truck," 1 July 2018
My stories and poems are dreams and visions that ‘appear’ and are augmented by fragmentary observations.

— frederick n. rasmussen, baltimoresun.com, "Elisabeth S. Schleussner, former Baltimore Sun art and architecture critic," 27 June 2018
The core group of about 20 people is augmented by about 60 or so volunteers, as well as security and medical staff.

— kevin riordan, Philly.com, "At South Jersey's 'Beardfest,' musicians, artists, and audiences collaborate and co-create | Kevin Riordan," 12 June 2018
Each of the 21 selections was augmented by creative lighting and unique choreography.

— bill brownlee, kansascity, "David Byrne's utopic show at Kauffman Center had everyone dancing," 8 June 2018
This challenge is augmented by the fact that most of the affected devices have publicly known vulnerabilities which are not convenient for the average user to patch.

— chris morris, Fortune, "500,000 Devices Infected With Malware That Could Cut Users Off From The Internet," 23 May 2018
Visibility through the side windows is impressive for a modern car, and it can be augmented by a 360-degree parking camera system.

— gary gastelu, Fox News, "The 2018 Jaguar XF Sportbrake is a sexy station wagon," 12 May 2018
These sequences are augmented by audio of Ginsburg's court appearances, as well as an interview conducted by NPR's Nina Totenberg.

— brian lowry, CNN, "Ruth Bader Ginsberg documentary 'RBG' earns favorable verdict," 2 May 2018
The devices would augment rubber barriers that are already in place.

— martine powers, Washington Post, "Metro must outfit all new trains with protective barriers by Dec. 31, regulators say," 25 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'augment.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of augment

Middle English, from Anglo-French augmenter, from Late Latin augmentare, from Latin augmentum increase, from augēre to increase — more at eke

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

augment Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of augment

increase, enlarge, augment, multiply mean to make or become greater. increase used intransitively implies progressive growth in size, amount, or intensity

- his waistline increased with age

; used transitively it may imply simple not necessarily progressive addition.

- increased her landholdings

enlarge implies expansion or extension that makes greater in size or capacity.

- enlarged the kitchen

augment implies addition to what is already well grown or well developed.

- the inheritance augmented his fortune

multiply implies increase in number by natural generation or by indefinite repetition of a process.

- with each attempt the problems multiplied

augment

noun aug·ment \ ˈȯg-ˌment \

Definition of augment

grammar

: a vowel prefixed or a lengthening of the initial vowel to mark past time especially in Greek and Sanskrit verbs

Recent Examples of augment from the Web

The Wharton economists, in turn, responded that other administrations have tried over decades to create airtight requirements that federal money augment, not replace, local spending, and that those efforts have routinely failed.

— michael laris, Washington Post, "As Trump Cabinet secretaries head to Hill, big hurdles remain on infrastructure," 13 Mar. 2018
Contracts are a much more open-ended excuse to explore your environment than hunting skill points and augments in Dishonored 2.

— steven strom, Ars Technica, "Dishonored: Death of the Outsider," 20 Sep. 2017