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. Enlarging hammer, a hammer with a slightly rounded face of large diameter; -- used by gold beaters. Knight. -- To enlarge an order or 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.
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.
To get more astern or parallel with the vessel's course; to draw aft; -- said of the wind.
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