enlarge

enlarge
    v 1: make larger; "She enlarged the flower beds"
    2: make large; "blow up an image" [syn: {blow up}, {enlarge},
       {magnify}] [ant: {reduce}, {scale down}]
    3: become larger or bigger
    4: add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of
       and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; "She
       elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation" [syn:
       {elaborate}, {lucubrate}, {expatiate}, {exposit}, {enlarge},
       {flesh out}, {expand}, {expound}, {dilate}] [ant:
       {abbreviate}, {abridge}, {contract}, {cut}, {foreshorten},
       {reduce}, {shorten}]
    

Enlarge \En*large"\, 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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To speak or write at length; to be diffuse in speaking or
      writing; to expatiate; to dilate.
      [1913 Webster]

            To enlarge upon this theme.           --M. Arnold.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Naut.) To get more astern or parallel with the vessel's
      course; to draw aft; -- said of the wind.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Enlarge \En*large"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Enlarged}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Enlarging}.] [OF. enlargier; pref. en- (L. in) + F.
   large wide. See {Large}.]
   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            To enlarge their possessions of land. --Locke.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

            O ye Corinthians, our . . . heart is enlarged. --2
                                                  Cor. vi. 11.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To set at large or set free. [Archaic]
      [1913 Webster]

            It will enlarge us from all restraints. --Barrow.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Enlarging hammer}, a hammer with a slightly rounded face of
      large diameter; -- used by gold beaters. --Knight.

   {To enlarge an order} or {To enlarge a rule} (Law), to extend
      the time for complying with it. --Abbott.

   {To enlarge one's self}, to give free vent to speech; to
      spread out discourse. "They enlarged themselves on this
      subject." --Clarendon.

   {To enlarge the heart}, to make free, liberal, and
      charitable.

   Syn: To increase; extend; expand; spread; amplify; augment;
        magnify. See {Increase}.
        [1913 Webster]
    

103 Moby Thesaurus words for "enlarge":
      add to, agent provocateur, aggrandize, aggravate, amplify, annoy,
      augment, balloon, beef up, bloat, blow up, blueprint, boost,
      broaden, build, build up, bulk, bulk out, complete, crescendo,
      deepen, descant, detail, deteriorate, develop, dilate, distend,
      elaborate, elongate, embitter, embroider, enhance, enlarge upon,
      enter into detail, evolve, exacerbate, exaggerate, exalt,
      exasperate, expand, expatiate, explicate, expound, extend, fatten,
      fill out, go into, greaten, grow, heat up, heighten, hike, hike up,
      hot up, huff, increase, inflate, intensify, irritate, jack up,
      jump up, labor, lengthen, magnify, make acute, make worse,
      maximize, mount, multiply, parlay, particularize, print, process,
      provoke, puff, puff up, pump, pump up, put up, pyramid, raise,
      rarefy, rehearse in extenso, relate at large, rise, sharpen,
      snowball, sour, spell out, spread, stretch, sufflate, supplement,
      swell, thicken, tumefy, unfold, up, upsurge, wax, widen, work out,
      worsen