Adjacent Words

Multiply definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MUL'TIPLY, v.t. [L. multiplico; multus, many, and plico, to fold or double.]
1. To increase in number; to make more by natural generation or production, or by addition; as, to multiply men, horses or other animals; to multiply evils.
I will multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt. Exodus 7.
Impunity will multiply motives to disobedience.
2. In arithmetic, to increase any given number as many times as there are units in any other given number. Thus 7x8=56, that is, 7 multiplied by 8 produces the number 56.
MUL'TIPLY, v.i. To grow or increase in number.
Be fruitful and multiply. Genesis 1.
When men began to multiply on the face of the earth. Genesis 6.
1. To increase in extent; to extend; to spread.
The word of God grew and multiplied. Acts 12.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: combine by multiplication; "multiply 10 by 15" [ant: divide, fraction]
2: combine or increase by multiplication; "He managed to multiply his profits" [syn: multiply, manifold]
3: have young (animals) or reproduce (organisms); "pandas rarely breed in captivity"; "These bacteria reproduce" [syn: breed, multiply]
4: have offspring or produce more individuals of a given animal or plant; "The Bible tells people to procreate" [syn: reproduce, procreate, multiply] adv
1: in several ways; in a multiple manner; "they were multiply checked for errors" [ant: singly]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (-plied; -plying) Etymology: Middle English multiplien, from Anglo-French multiplier, from Latin multiplicare, from multiplic-, multiplex multiple Date: 13th century transitive verb 1. to increase in number especially greatly or in multiples ; augment 2. a. to find the product of by multiplication <multiply 7 and 8> b. to use as a multiplicand in multiplication with another number <multiply 7 by 8> intransitive verb 1. a. to become greater in number ; spread b. breed, propagate 2. to perform multiplication Synonyms: see increase II. adverb Date: 1881 in a multiple manner ; in several ways <multiply talented children>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. (-ies, -ied) 1 tr. (also absol.) obtain from (a number) another that is a specified number of times its value (multiply 6 by 4 and you get 24). 2 intr. increase in number esp. by procreation. 3 tr. produce a large number of (instances etc.). 4 tr. a breed (animals). b propagate (plants). Etymology: ME f. OF multiplier f. L multiplicare (as MULTIPLEX)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Multiply Mul"ti*ply, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Multiplied; p. pr. & vb. n. Multiplying.] [F. multiplier, L. multiplicare, fr. multiplex manifold. See Multitude, Complex.] 1. To increase in number; to make more numerous; to add quantity to. Impunity will multiply motives to disobedience. --Ames. 2. (Math.) To add (any given number or quantity) to itself a certain number of times; to find the product of by multiplication; thus 7 multiplied by 8 produces the number 56; to multiply two numbers. See the Note under Multiplication. 3. To increase (the amount of gold or silver) by the arts of alchemy. [Obs.] Multiplying gear (Mach.), gear for increasing speed. Multiplying lens. (Opt.) See under Lens.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Multiply Mul"ti*ply, v. i. 1. To become greater in number; to become numerous. When men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them. --Gen. vi. 1. 2. To increase in extent and influence; to spread. The word of God grew and multiplied. --Acts xii. 24. 3. To increase amount of gold or silver by the arts of alchemy. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(multiplies, multiplying, multiplied) 1. When something multiplies or when you multiply it, it increases greatly in number or amount. Such disputes multiplied in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries... Her husband multiplied his demands on her time. VERB: V, V n 2. When animals and insects multiply, they increase in number by giving birth to large numbers of young. These creatures can multiply quickly. VERB: V 3. If you multiply one number by another, you add the first number to itself as many times as is indicated by the second number. For example 2 multiplied by 3 is equal to 6. What do you get if you multiply six by nine? ...the remarkable ability to multiply huge numbers correctly without pen or paper. VERB: V n by n, V pl-n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Increase (in number), make more, make many. II. v. n. 1. Increase, grow in number. 2. Increase, extend, spread.

Moby Thesaurus

abound with, accrue, accumulate, add, advance, aggrandize, algebraize, appreciate, army, augment, balloon, be alive with, be fruitful, be productive, bear, beef up, beget, bloat, boom, boost, breed, breed true, bristle with, broaden, build, burst with, calculate, cast, cipher, cloud, clutter, compute, copulate, crawl with, creep with, crescendo, crossbreed, crowd, crush, develop, divide, dope out, drove, engender, enlarge, estimate, expand, extend, extract roots, father, figure, figure in, figure out, flock, fructify, gain, gain strength, generate, get, get ahead, go up, grow, heighten, horde, host, inbreed, increase, intensify, jam, legion, magnify, make love, measure, mother, mount, multitude, numbers, oodles, outbreed, overflow with, pack, press, procreate, produce, proliferate, propagate, pullulate, pullulate with, push, quantities, reckon, reproduce, reproduce in kind, rise, rout, run up, score, scores, shoot up, sire, snowball, spread, squash, strengthen, subtract, swarm with, swell, take account of, tally, teem, teem with, throng, throng with, upsurge, wax, widen, work out