Adjacent Words

Emphasize definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

EMPHASIZE, v.t. To utter or pronounce with a particular or more forcible stress of voice; as, to emphasize a word, for the purpose of rendering the sense more distinct or impressive than other words in the sentence.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: to stress, single out as important; "Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet" [syn: stress, emphasize, emphasise, punctuate, accent, accentuate]
2: give extra weight to (a communication); "Her gesture emphasized her words" [syn: underscore, underline, emphasize, emphasise]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-sized; -sizing) Date: circa 1806 to place emphasis on ; stress <emphasized the need for reform>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (also -ise) 1 bring (a thing, fact, etc.) into special prominence. 2 lay stress on (a word in speaking).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Emphasize Em"pha*size, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Emphasized; p. pr. & vb. n. Emphasizing.] To utter or pronounce with a particular stress of voice; to make emphatic; as, to emphasize a word or a phrase.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(emphasizes, emphasizing, emphasized) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. Note: in BRIT, also use 'emphasise' To emphasize something means to indicate that it is particularly important or true, or to draw special attention to it. But it's also been emphasized that no major policy changes can be expected to come out of the meeting... Discuss pollution with your child, emphasizing how nice a clean street, lawn, or park looks. VERB: V that, V how

Moby Thesaurus

accent, accentuate, assert, bear down on, belabor, call attention to, charge, dwell on, feature, give emphasis to, harp on, highlight, italicize, mark, overaccentuate, overemphasize, overstress, pinpoint, place emphasis on, play up, point up, press, punctuate, rub in, spotlight, star, stress, underline, underscore