enlarge
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ɪnˈlɑːd͡ʒ/
  • (GA) IPA: /ɪnˈlɑɹd͡ʒ/
Verb

enlarge (enlarges, present participle enlarging; past and past participle enlarged)

  1. (transitive) To make larger.
  2. (intransitive) To grow larger.
  3. (transitive) To increase the capacity of; to expand; to give free scope or greater scope to; also, to dilate, as with joy, affection, etc.
    Knowledge enlarges the mind.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, 2 Corinthians 6:11 ↗:
      O ye Corinthians, our […] heart is enlarged.
  4. (intransitive) To speak or write at length upon or on (some subject)
    • 1664, Samuel Butler, Hudibras 2.2.68:
      I shall enlarge upon the Point.
  5. (archaic) To release; to set at large.
    • 1580, Philip Sidney, Arcadia 329:
      Like a Lionesse lately enlarged.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.8:
      Finding no meanes how I might us enlarge, / But if that Dwarfe I could with me convay, / I lightly snatcht him up and with me bore away.
    • It will enlarge us from all restraints.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act II Scene II:
      Uncle of Exeter, enlarge the man committed yesterday, that rail'd against our person. We consider it was excess of wine that set him on.
  6. (nautical) To get more astern or parallel with the vessel's course; to draw aft; said of the wind.
  7. (legal) To extend the time allowed for compliance with (an order or rule).
Synonyms Related terms Translations


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