magnify : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: magnify	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for magnify
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
magnify v increase in size, volume or significance; "Her terror was magnified in her mind" Synonym(s): magnify, amplify to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth; "tended to romanticize and exaggerate this `gracious Old South' imagery" Synonym(s): overstate, exaggerate, overdraw, hyperbolize, hyperbolise, magnify, amplify Antonym(s): downplay, minimise, minimize, understate make large; "blow up an image" Synonym(s): blow up, enlarge, magnify Antonym(s): reduce, scale down
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Magnify \Mag"nify\, v. i. 1. To have the power of causing objects to appear larger than they really are; to increase the apparent dimensions of objects; as, some lenses magnify* but little. 2. To have effect; to be of importance or significance. [Cant & Obs.] --Spectator. {Magnifying glass}, a lens which magnifies the apparent dimensions of objects seen through it.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Magnify \Mag"nify\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Magnified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Magnifying}.] [OE. magnifien, F. magnifier, L. magnificare. See {Magnific}.] 1. To make great, or greater; to increase the dimensions of; to amplify; to enlarge, either in fact or in appearance; as, the microscope magnifies the object by a thousand diameters. The least error in a small quantity . . . will in a great one . . . be proportionately magnified. --Grew. 2. To increase the importance of; to augment the esteem or respect in which one is held. On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel. --Joshua iv. 14. 3. To praise highly; to land; to extol. [Archaic] O, magnify* the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. --Ps. xxxiv. 3. 4. To exaggerate; as, to magnify a loss or a difficulty. {To magnify one's self} (Script.), to exhibit pride and haughtiness; to boast. {To magnify one's self against} (Script.), to oppose with pride.