Hypertext Webster Gateway: "amplify"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Amplify \Am"pli*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Amplified}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Amplifying}.] [F. amplifier, L. amplificare. See
{Ample}, {-fy}.]
1. To render larger, more extended, or more intense, and the
like; -- used especially of telescopes, microscopes, etc.
2. (Rhet.) To enlarge by addition or discussion; to treat
copiously by adding particulars, illustrations, etc.; to
expand; to make much of.
Troilus and Cressida was written by a Lombard
author, but much amplified by our English
translator. --Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Amplify \Am"pli*fy\, v. i.
1. To become larger. [Obs.]
Strait was the way at first, withouten light, But
further in did further amplify. --Fairfax.
2. To speak largely or copiously; to be diffuse in argument
or description; to dilate; to expatiate; -- often with on
or upon. --Watts.
He must often enlarge and amplify upon the subject
he handles. --South.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
amplify
v 1: increase in size, volume or significance: "Her terror was
magnified in her mind." [syn: {magnify}]
2: to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth; " tended to
romanticize and exaggerate this ``gracious Old South''
imagery" [syn: {overstate}, {exaggerate}, {overdraw}, {hyperbolize},
{magnify}] [ant: {understate}]
3: exaggerate or make bigger; "The charges were inflated" [syn:
{inflate}, {blow up}, {expand}]
4: increase the volume of; "amplify sound"
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