Adjacent Words

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ENL`ARGE, v.t. enlarj. [from large.] To make greater in quantity or dimensions; to extend in limits, breadth or side; to expand in bulk. Every man desires to enlarge his possessions; the prince, his dominions. and the landholder, his farm. The body is enlarged by nutrition, and a good man rejoices to enlarge the sphere of his benevolence.
God shall enlarge Japhet. Genesis 9.
1. To dilate; to expand; as with joy or love.
O ye, Corinthians, our mouth is open to you, our
heart is enlarged.
2. To expand; to make more comprehensive. Science enlarges the mind.
3. To increase in appearance; to magnify to the eye; as by a glass.
4. To set at liberty; to release from confinement or pressure.
5. To extend in a discourse; to diffuse in eloquence.
They enlarged themselves on this subject.
In this application, the word is generally intransitive.
6. To augment; to increase; to make large or larger, in a general sense; a word of general application.
To enlarge the heart, may signify to open and expand in good will; to make free, liberal and charitable.
ENL`ARGE, v.i. enlarj. To grow large or larger; to extend; to dilate; to expand. A plant enlarges by growth; an estate enlarges by good management; a volume of air enlarges by rarefaction.
1. To be diffuse in speaking or writing; to expatiate. I might enlarge on this topic.
2. To exaggerate.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: make larger; "She enlarged the flower beds"
2: make large; "blow up an image" [syn: blow up, enlarge, magnify] [ant: reduce, scale down]
3: become larger or bigger
4: add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; "She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation" [syn: elaborate, lucubrate, expatiate, exposit, enlarge, flesh out, expand, expound, dilate] [ant: abbreviate, abridge, contract, cut, foreshorten, reduce, shorten]

Merriam Webster's

verb (enlarged; enlarging) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French enlarger, enlargir, from en- + large broad, large Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to make larger ; extend <enlarged the family fortune with new investments> 2. to give greater scope to ; expand <education may enlarge one's view of the world> 3. to set free (as a captive) intransitive verb 1. to grow larger 2. to speak or write at length ; elaborate <let me enlarge upon that point> Synonyms: see increase • enlargeable adjective • enlarger noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. & intr. make or become larger or wider. 2 a tr. describe in greater detail. b intr. (usu. foll. by upon) expatiate. 3 tr. Photog. produce an enlargement of (a negative). Etymology: ME f. OF enlarger (as EN-(1), LARGE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Enlarge En*large", v. i. 1. To grow large or larger; to be further extended; to expand; as, a plant enlarges by growth; an estate enlarges by good management; a volume of air enlarges by rarefaction. 2. To speak or write at length; to be diffuse in speaking or writing; to expatiate; to dilate. To enlarge upon this theme. --M. Arnold. 3. (Naut.) To get more astern or parallel with the vessel's course; to draw aft; -- said of the wind.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Enlarge En*large", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Enlarged; p. pr. & vb. n. Enlarging.] [OF. enlargier; pref. en- (L. in) + F. large wide. See Large.] 1. To make larger; to increase in quantity or dimensions; to extend in limits; to magnify; as, the body is enlarged by nutrition; to enlarge one's house. To enlarge their possessions of land. --Locke. 2. To increase the capacity of; to expand; to give free scope or greater scope to; also, to dilate, as with joy, affection, and the like; as, knowledge enlarges the mind. O ye Corinthians, our . . . heart is enlarged. --2 Cor. vi. 11. 3. To set at large or set free. [Archaic] It will enlarge us from all restraints. --Barrow. Enlarging hammer, a hammer with a slightly rounded face of large diameter; -- used by gold beaters. --Knight. To enlarge an order or rule (Law), to extend the time for complying with it. --Abbott. To enlarge one's self, to give free vent to speech; to spread out discourse. ``They enlarged themselves on this subject.'' --Clarendon. To enlarge the heart, to make free, liberal, and charitable. Syn: To increase; extend; expand; spread; amplify; augment; magnify. See Increase.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(enlarges, enlarging, enlarged) 1. When you enlarge something or when it enlarges, it becomes bigger. ...the plan to enlarge Ewood Park into a 30,000 all-seater stadium... The glands in the neck may enlarge. VERB: V n, V • enlarged The UN secretary-general yesterday recommended an enlarged peacekeeping force. ADJ 2. If you enlarge on something that has been mentioned, you give more details about it. (FORMAL) He didn't enlarge on the form that the interim government and assembly would take... = expand VERB: V on/upon n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Increase, augment, extend, expand, magnify, amplify, make larger, make greater. 2. Greaten, engreaten, ennoble, expand, give larger scope to, make more comprehensive. II. v. n. 1. Expatiate, dilate, descant, speak at length, launch out. 2. Increase, swell, grow, extend, expand, grow larger.

Moby Thesaurus

add to, agent provocateur, aggrandize, aggravate, amplify, annoy, augment, balloon, beef up, bloat, blow up, blueprint, boost, broaden, build, build up, bulk, bulk out, complete, crescendo, deepen, descant, detail, deteriorate, develop, dilate, distend, elaborate, elongate, embitter, embroider, enhance, enlarge upon, enter into detail, evolve, exacerbate, exaggerate, exalt, exasperate, expand, expatiate, explicate, expound, extend, fatten, fill out, go into, greaten, grow, heat up, heighten, hike, hike up, hot up, huff, increase, inflate, intensify, irritate, jack up, jump up, labor, lengthen, magnify, make acute, make worse, maximize, mount, multiply, parlay, particularize, print, process, provoke, puff, puff up, pump, pump up, put up, pyramid, raise, rarefy, rehearse in extenso, relate at large, rise, sharpen, snowball, sour, spell out, spread, stretch, sufflate, supplement, swell, thicken, tumefy, unfold, up, upsurge, wax, widen, work out, worsen