magnify

verb

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mag·ni·fy | \ ˈmag-nə-ˌfī

magnified; magnifying

Definition of magnify

transitive verb

1a : extol, laud while they magnified the art, they often belittled the artist— Havelock Ellis

b : to cause to be held in greater esteem or respect

2a : to increase in significance : intensify real drama … will use ugliness to magnify beauty— Alan Mickle

b : exaggerate magnifies every minor issue to crisis proportions

3 : to enlarge in fact or in appearance The lens magnified the image 100 times.

intransitive verb

: to have the power of causing objects to appear larger than they are a glass that magnifies greatly

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about magnify

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Examples of magnify in a Sentence

The sound was magnified by the calm air. His failures have been magnified by the success of his friends. I don't want to magnify the importance of these problems. The lens magnified the image 100 times. a magnified view of the image

Recent Examples on the Web But on a longer cast, just a slight bit of droop will magnify into larger and larger loops. — T. Edward Nickens, Field & Stream, "11 Tips That Will Add 20 Feet to Your Fly Cast," 30 Dec. 2020 Leveraged ETFs magnify the daily return of a market index, typically doubling or tripling it. — Jason Zweig, WSJ, "When the Stock Market Is Too Much Fun," 11 Dec. 2020 The purpose of the group is to magnify the power of art, and potential of art, in Southeastern San Diego. — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, "‘Pop-Up’ gallery highlights local visual art talent in southeastern San Diego," 26 Dec. 2020 This is its own kind of triumph in an EV, where the lack of a melodious engine can magnify wind and road noise. — Annie White, Car and Driver, "2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Is Ford's Best EV Ever," 15 Dec. 2020 The sugar doesn't decrease, but the sweetness becomes less obvious, especially as the fruit flavors that magnify sweetness fade with age. — Rachel King, Fortune, "Why right now is the time to start aging your wine collection," 4 Oct. 2020 And those wacky hormones really magnify everything. — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, "Carolyn Hax: She’s not buying comparison of Realtor test and infertility treatment," 12 Dec. 2020 Follow one-way paths, and see how reflections from the large garden pond magnify the brilliance of colors. — Mary Bergin, chicagotribune.com, "Find the joy of the season at holiday light displays within driving distance of Chicago," 5 Dec. 2020 The state’s elastic land-use planning standards magnify the threat by spawning unchecked growth in the wildland-urban interface, broadly defined as areas where development meets natural lands. — Martin Kuz, The Christian Science Monitor, "In California, rethinking who ‘owns’ wildfire," 30 Nov. 2020

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