magnify

verb

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 & Antonyms 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

When something like this happens, it obviously gets magnified a little more. — George Sipple, Detroit Free Press, "Depleted bullpen bombs in Detroit Tigers' 8-5 loss to Royals," 22 Apr. 2018 All of these things affect mothers, and those effects are manifested and magnified in their babies’ brains and later functioning. — Diana Gitig, Ars Technica, "Inflammation is bad, including for those in the womb," 12 Apr. 2018 Icarus is only visible because it is being magnified by the gravity of a massive galaxy cluster. — Mercedes Leguizamon And Brandon Griggs, CNN, "The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the farthest individual star ever seen," 3 Apr. 2018 The home team’s struggles over the last year were magnified by the fact that the World Cup is being played in Russia. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, "The Russian Soccer Team’s Biggest Trolls: Russians," 19 June 2018 In places the yellow hue is magnified by ugly brown and black spots. — Huizhong Wu, CNN, "Indian court warns about Taj Mahal discoloration," 2 May 2018 The highlights of the show were overshadowed by the low points, and those were magnified by the length of the card. — Justin Barrasso, SI.com, "Week in Wrestling: Andre the Giant’s Farewell; WrestleMania Fallout," 11 Apr. 2018 Even more developments could begin to unfold come April 25, when a commission headed by former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will present recommendations to the NCAA on how to address problems with the sport magnified by the FBI investigation. — Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY, "College basketball's super early 2018-19 preseason top 25 teams," 3 Apr. 2018

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.