Enlarge /(?)/

En·large

Enlarge

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Enlarged; p. pr. & vb. n. Enlarging

  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.
  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.

Phrases & Compounds
Enlarging hammer
a hammer with a slightly rounded face of large diameter; -- used by gold beaters.
To enlarge an order
to extend the time for complying with it.
To enlarge one's self
to give free vent to speech; to spread out discourse.
To enlarge the heart
to make free, liberal, and charitable.

Enlarge

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.
  3. To get more astern or parallel with the vessel's course; to draw aft; -- said of the wind. (Naut.)