Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense multiplies, present participle multiplying, past tense, past participle multiplied
1. verb
When something multiplies or when you multiply it, it increases greatly in number or amount.
Such disputes multiplied in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. [VERB]
The scale of change multiplies the difficulties and the risks involved. [VERB noun]
2. verb
When animals and insects multiply, they increase in number by giving birth to large numbers of young.
These creatures can multiply quickly. [VERB]
Synonyms: reproduce, breed, propagate More Synonyms of multiply
3. verb
If you multiply one number by another, you add the first number to itself as many times as is indicated by the second number. For example, 2 multiplied by 3 is equal to 6.
What do you get if you multiply six by nine? [V n + by]
...the remarkable ability to multiply huge numbers correctly without pen or paper. [VERB noun]
More Synonyms of multiply
multiply in British English
(ˈmʌltɪˌplaɪ)
verbWord forms: -plies, -plying or -plied
1.
to increase or cause to increase in number, quantity, or degree
2. (transitive)
to combine (two numbers or quantities) by multiplication
3. (intransitive)
to increase in number by reproduction
Derived forms
multipliable (ˈmultiˌpliable) or multiplicable (ˈmultiˌplicable)
adjective
Word origin
C13: from Old French multiplier, from Latin multiplicāre to multiply, from multus much, many + plicāre to fold
multiply in American English1
(ˈmʌltəˌplaɪ)
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈmultiˌplied or ˈmultiˌplying
1.
to cause to increase in number, amount, extent, or degree
2. Ancient Mathematics
to find the product of by multiplication
verb intransitive
3.
to increase in number, amount, extent, or degree; specif., to increase by procreation
4. Ancient Mathematics
to perform multiplication
SIMILAR WORDS: inˈcrease
Word origin
ME multiplien < OFr multiplier < L multiplicare < multiplex, multiple
multiply in American English2
(ˈmʌltəpli)
adverb
in multiple ways
Examples of 'multiply' in a sentence
multiply
One number multiplied by another will always be the same and the patterns within them are consistent.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Watching the celebs enter the house is like watching a cancer cell slowly divide and multiply.
The Sun (2013)
If you want the real figure you can multiply that by a hundred or a thousand.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Imagine that hurt multiplied a million times.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The equation has always been quality multiplied by quantity.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It is a tiny number but multiplied across the huge continent it becomes thousands.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
And a tiny number multiplied by two is still very small.
The Sun (2012)
His smile would be multiplied ten million times.
Hyland, Paul Indian Balm - Travels in the Southern Subcontinent (1994)
They generally come with small weights so that they sink to the bottom of a pond and quickly multiply.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
That anxiety is multiplied by six.
The Sun (2009)
Instead, be sure to multiply all figures by two.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The value of an option increases with the variance per period of the stock return multiplied by the number of periods to maturity.
Charles A. D'Ambrosio & Stewart D. Hodges & Richard Brealey & Stewart Myers Principles of Corporate Finance (1991)
Dig holes in the soil and drop a handful in here and there and they'll quickly multiply.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In 2015, the church has multiplied from one to three locations.
Christianity Today (2000)
Plus, minus, multiply and divide can each be used once only.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The government says that this increase should be multiplied by 15 or 20 to work out whether it exceeds the annual contribution limit.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
If you make your own stuff, work out your base costs and the labour involved, and multiply it by one and a half or two.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
He wondered whether the emphasis on " increase and multiply" had not obscured the other text in Genesis, "they will be two in one flesh".
Hebblethwaite, Peter Paul VI - The First Modern Pope (1993)
In other languages
multiply
British English: multiply /ˈmʌltɪˌplaɪ/ VERB
When something multiplies, or when you multiply it, it increases greatly in number or amount.
He multiplied his demands on her time.
American English: multiply
Arabic: يَتَكَاثَرُ
Brazilian Portuguese: multiplicar
Chinese: 增加
Croatian: množiti
Czech: násobit
Danish: multiplicere
Dutch: vermenigvuldigen
European Spanish: multiplicar
Finnish: moninkertaistua
French: multiplier
German: multiplizieren
Greek: πολλαπλασιάζω
Italian: moltiplicare
Japanese: 増す
Korean: 증대시키다
Norwegian: multiplisere
Polish: pomnożyć
European Portuguese: multiplicar
Romanian: a înmulți
Russian: умножать
Latin American Spanish: multiplicar
Swedish: multiplicera
Thai: คูณ
Turkish: çarpmak matematik
Ukrainian: помножувати
Vietnamese: nhân
Chinese translation of 'multiply'
multiply
(ˈmʌltɪplaɪ)
vt
(Math)
to multiply sth (by sth)(某数(數))乘以某数(數) ((mǒushù) chéng yǐ mǒushù)
vi
(= increase) 增加 (zēngjiā)
(= reproduce) 繁殖 (fánzhí)
(Math) 做乘法 (zuò chéngfǎ)
1 (verb)
Definition
to increase or cause to increase in number, quantity, or degree
Her new job has multiplied the demands on her time.
Synonyms
increase
The population continues to increase.
extend
They have added three new products to extend their range.
expand
We can expand the size of the image.
spread
The sense of fear is spreading in residential neighbourhoods.
build up
accumulate
Lead can accumulate in the body until toxic levels are reached.
augment
She was searching for a way to augment her income.
proliferate
Courses in creative writing have proliferated in recent years.
Opposites
reduce
,
decline
,
diminish
, decrease,
lessen
,
abate
2 (verb)
Definition
to increase in number by reproduction
These creatures can multiply quickly.
Synonyms
reproduce
The animals were unable to reproduce when the vitamin was missing from their diet.
breed
Frogs will usually breed in any convenient pond.
propagate
Tomatoes rot in order to transmit their seed and propagate the species.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of accumulate
Definition
to gather together in an increasing quantity
Lead can accumulate in the body until toxic levels are reached.
Synonyms
build up,
increase,
grow,
be stored,
collect,
gather,
pile up,
amass,
stockpile,
hoard,
accrue,
cumulate
in the sense of augment
Definition
to make or become greater in number or strength
She was searching for a way to augment her income.
Synonyms
increase,
grow,
raise,
extend,
boost,
expand,
add to,
build up,
strengthen,
enhance,
reinforce,
swell,
intensify,
heighten,
enlarge,
multiply,
inflate,
magnify,
amplify,
dilate
in the sense of breed
Definition
to bear (offspring)
Frogs will usually breed in any convenient pond.
Synonyms
reproduce,
multiply,
propagate,
procreate (formal),
produce offspring,
bear young,
bring forth young,
generate offspring,
beget offspring,
develop
Synonyms of 'multiply'
multiply
Explore 'multiply' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of expand
Definition
to make or become greater in extent, size, or scope
We can expand the size of the image.
Synonyms
make bigger,
increase,
develop,
extend,
widen,
blow up,
heighten,
enlarge,
multiply,
broaden,
inflate,
thicken,
fill out,
lengthen,
magnify,
amplify,
augment,
dilate,
make larger,
distend,
bloat,
protract
in the sense of extend
Definition
to broaden the meaning or scope of
They have added three new products to extend their range.
Synonyms
widen,
increase,
develop,
expand,
spread,
add to,
enhance,
supplement,
enlarge,
broaden,
diversify,
amplify,
augment
in the sense of proliferate
Definition
to increase rapidly in numbers
Courses in creative writing have proliferated in recent years.
Synonyms
increase,
expand,
breed,
mushroom,
escalate,
multiply,
burgeon,
snowball,
run riot,
grow rapidly
in the sense of propagate
Definition
to reproduce or breed
Tomatoes rot in order to transmit their seed and propagate the species.
Synonyms
reproduce,
breed,
multiply,
proliferate,
beget,
procreate (formal)
in the sense of spread
Definition
to extend over a larger expanse
The sense of fear is spreading in residential neighbourhoods.