increase

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Act of making larger

Nouns

1. increase, augmentation, enlargement, extension; dilation, expansion; advance, appreciation; gain, profit, increment, accretion; accession, addition; development, growth; aggrandizement, aggravation; intensification, magnification, multiplication; rise, ascent; exacerbation; spread, dispersion; flood tide; population explosion; Butterfly effect. Slang, gravy. See improvement.

2. booster; [capital] gains, profits; cash cow.

Verbs

1. increase, augment, add to, enlarge, extend; supplement, eke out; dilate, sprout, expand, swell, burgeon, bud, puff up; grow, wax, get ahead, gain strength; fatten; advance, escalate; develop, grow, run up, shoot up; rise, ascend; amplify, build up, raise, step or jack up, punch up, hike. Informal, soup up.

2. aggrandize, exalt; deepen, heighten, strengthen, intensify, enhance, magnify, redouble; parlay; let out; accrue; aggravate, exasperate, exacerbate; add fuel to the fire or flames, spread, disperse; appreciate, inflate, mushroom, escalate, go up. Informal, snowball.

Adjectives — increased, increasing, multiplying, enlarged, on the increase, undiminished; additional, extra, added (see addition); swollen, turgid, tumid, bloated, distended; larger, bigger.

Adverbs — increasingly, etc.; even, all the; crescendo.

Quotations — Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometric ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio (Thomas Malthus), In much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow (Bible), When everything else physical and mental seems to diminish, the appreciation of beauty is on the increase (Bernard Berenson), Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness (John Ruskin).

Antonyms, see decrease.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Growth]

Syn. development, spread, enlargement, expansion, escalation, elaboration, optimization, burgeoning, swelling, addition, accession, incorporation, merger, inflation, appreciation, heightening, extension, dilation, multiplication, augmentation, rise, broadening, advance, gain, intensification, deepening, swell, amplification, progression, buildup, uptick, improvement, boost*, hike*, jump*, boom*; see also progress 1 .

Ant. reduction*, decline, decrease.

2. [An addition]

Syn. increment, accession, accretion, raise; see addition 2 .

• on the increase,

Syn. growing, developing, spreading; see increasing 1 .

v.

1. [To add to]

Syn. extend, enlarge, augment, expand, dilate, broaden, widen, thicken, deepen, heighten, build, lengthen, magnify, add on, multiply, escalate, let out, open out, further, mark up, sharpen, build up, raise, enhance, amplify, reinforce, supplement, annex, distend, swell, double, triple, stretch, intensify, exaggerate, blow up, aggravate, protract, prolong, aggrandize, redouble, boost*, raise the ante*, step up*, rev up*, jack up*; see also develop 1 , improve 1 , strengthen .

Ant. decrease*, reduce, abridge.

2. [To grow]

Syn. rise, progress, develop; see grow 1 .

Syn.- increase , the general word in this list, means to make or become greater in size, amount, degree, etc. [ to increase one's weight, one's power, debts, etc. ] ; enlarge specifically implies a making or becoming greater in size, volume, extent, etc. [ to enlarge a house, a business, etc. ] ; augment , a more formal word, generally implies increase by addition, often of something that is already of a considerable size, amount, etc. [ to augment one's income ] ; multiply suggests increase in number, specif. by procreation [ rabbits multiply rapidly ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

growth, rise, enlargement, addition, expansion, enhancement, escalation, upsurge, intensification, broadening, burgeoning.

ANT.: decrease, reduction, shrinkage

II

v.

grow, rise, enlarge, add, expand, enhance, escalate, surge, intensify, broaden, burgeon, amplify, swell, advance, heighten, augment, *snowball, mushroom, multiply, build, inflate, double, triple.

ANT.: decrease, reduce, shrink, deflate

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I verb 1. To make or become greater or larger: aggrandize, amplify, augment, boost, build, build up, burgeon, enlarge, escalate, expand, extend, grow, magnify, mount, multiply, proliferate, rise, run up, snowball, soar, swell, upsurge, wax. Informal: beef up. See INCREASE. 2. To produce sexually or asexually others of one's kind: breed, multiply, procreate, proliferate, propagate, reproduce, spawn. See REPRODUCTION. II noun 1. The act of increasing or rising: aggrandizement, amplification, augment, augmentation, boost, buildup, enlargement, escalation, growth, hike, jump, multiplication, proliferation, raise, rise, swell, upsurge, upswing, upturn. See INCREASE. 2. The amount by which something is increased: advance, boost, hike, increment, jump, raise, rise. See INCREASE. 3. Obsolete. The process by which an organism produces others of its kind: breeding, multiplication, procreation, proliferation, propagation, reproduction, spawning. See REPRODUCTION.