magnify

Word family

mag·ni·fy /ˈmæɡnɪfaɪ/ verb (magnified, magnifying, magnifies) [transitiveT]

1 BIGto make something seem bigger or louder, especially using special equipment 〔尤指使用特殊设备〕放大

At the Sheffield arena, the speakers were magnified ten times on a giant screen.

在谢菲尔德体育馆，演讲者在一个巨大的屏幕上被放大了十倍。

A public address system magnifies all the little noises and coughs.

扩音系统会放大任何细小的噪音和咳嗽声。

2 EXAGGERATEto make something seem more important than it really is 夸张，夸大 SYN exaggerate

The report tends to magnify the risks involved.

这份报告有夸大所涉风险的倾向。

3 formalWORSE to make something much worse or more serious 使〔问题〕加重，放大

The results of economic mismanagement were magnified by a series of natural disasters.

一连串的自然灾害加剧了经济管理不善造成的恶果。

Examples from the Corpus

magnify• On bad teams those inevitable difficulties tend to get magnified.• Yet the former were magnified a hundredfold in terms of publicity.• This microscope can magnify an object up to forty times.• The image is magnified by a series of lenses within the telescope.• Her eyes were magnified by her thick glasses.• Techshare gains were magnified by portfolio borrowings that last summer equaled about 15 cents for each dollar invested.• But they were obvious to most people, even though they were magnified by those who didn't know him well.• Binoculars magnify far-off objects.• Your watchful siblings are the editors perched on your lamp shade, magnifying glasses poised to catch your mistakes.• In doing so, he has magnified his reputation and career a thousandfold.• Our lack of information magnified our mistakes.• This report tends to magnify the risks involved.• Toy problems may converge in a reasonable amount of time; real problems may magnify the task beyond reasonable limits.

Origin magnify

(1300-1400) French magnifier, from Latin magnificus; → MAGNIFICENT

Chinese

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