enlarge Meaning, Definition & Usage

verb make larger
- She enlarged the flower beds
verb make large
blow up; magnify.
- blow up an image
verb become larger or bigger
verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
expound; lucubrate; dilate; expatiate; elaborate; exposit; flesh out; expand.
- She elaborated on the main ideas in her dissertation

OF. enlargier; pref. en- (L. in) + F. large wide. See Large.

imperfect & past participle Enlarged ; present participle & verbal noun Enlarging

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. Locke.
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.
To set at large or set free. Archaic
It will enlarge us from all restraints. Barrow.
Syn. -- To increase; extend; expand; spread; amplify; augment; magnify. See Increase.

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.
To speak or write at length; to be diffuse in speaking or writing; to expatiate; to dilate.
To enlarge upon this theme. M. Arnold.
(Naut.) To get more astern or parallel with the vessel's course; to draw aft; -- said of the wind.