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amplify

 - 4 dictionary results
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am⋅pli⋅fy

  [am-pluh-fahy] verb, -fied, -fy⋅ing.
Use amplify in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to make larger, greater, or stronger; enlarge; extend.
2. to expand in stating or describing, as by details or illustrations; clarify by expanding.
3. Electricity. to increase the amplitude of; cause amplification in.
4. Archaic. to exaggerate.
–verb (used without object)
5. to discourse at length; expatiate or expand one's remarks, speech, etc. (usually fol. by on): The preacher amplified on the theme of brotherly love.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME amplifyen < MF amplifier < L amplificāre to increase, augment. See ample, -ify

Related forms:
am⋅pli⋅fi⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. increase, intensify, heighten. 2. widen, broaden, develop.

Antonyms:
1. contract, reduce. 2. condense, abridge.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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am·pli·fy   (ām'plə-fī')   
v.   am·pli·fied, am·pli·fy·ing, am·pli·fies

v.   tr.

  1. To make larger or more powerful; increase.

  2. To add to, as by illustrations; make complete.

  3. To exaggerate.

  4. To produce amplification of: amplify an electrical signal.

v.   intr.
To write or discourse at length; expatiate: Let me amplify so that you will understand the overall problem.

[Middle English amplifien, from Old French amplifier, from Latin amplificāre : amplus, large + -ficāre, -fy.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

amplify 
1432, "to enlarge or expand," from M.Fr. amplifier, from L. amplificare "to enlarge," from amplificus "splendid," from amplus "large" + the root of facere "make, do" (see factitious). Meaning "augment in volume or amount" is from 1580. Specific focus on sound seems to have emerged in the electronic age, c.1915, in ref. to radio technology. The electronic amplifier first attested 1914; shortened form amp is from 1967.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: am·pli·fy
Pronunciation: -"fI
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: -fied; -fy·ing
1 : tomake larger or greater (as in amount or intensity)
2 : to increase the strength or amount of; especially : to make louder
3 : to cause (a geneor DNA sequence) to undergo amplification
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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