magnify
Definitions
To make something appear larger than it is, especially with a lens.
（尤指用透镜）放大；使显得更大。
To make something seem more important or serious than it really is; to exaggerate.
夸大；使……显得更严重。
Root Breakdown
Native Englishmagni- (great, from magnus) + -fy (to make, from facere) = 'to make great / make larger.' A magnifying glass makes print look bigger. The same idea extends to feelings and problems: to magnify a worry is to let it look far larger than it really is.
Root maj still carries 25 more wordsWhy It Means This
The leap from 'enlarge with a lens' to 'exaggerate' is a single visual metaphor. When you magnify a fear, you're treating it like an image under a lens — its outline grows, its details loom, even though nothing real has changed. That's why magnify so often carries a hint of distortion: the thing isn't actually bigger, it just looks bigger.
Common Collocations
- 1.magnify an image放大图像
- 2.magnify [by/times]放大[……倍]
- 3.greatly magnify大大放大
- 4.magnify the effect/impact放大效果/影响
- 5.magnifying glass放大镜
Example Sentences
- 1.
This lens can magnify the image up to ten times.
- 2.
The media tends to magnify every minor scandal.
- 3.
Stress can magnify even the smallest problems.