increase

Verb

increase (third-person singular simple present increases, present participle increasing, simple past and past participle increased)

1. (intransitive) (of a quantity, etc.) To become larger or greater, to greaten.
   • His rage only increased when I told him of the lost money.
   • The waters increased and bare up the ark.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 7:17
2. (transitive) To make (a quantity, etc.) larger.
   • The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 07 Sep 2013
   • Drivers like the idea of increasing traffic flow and reducing congestion on the portion of I-80 between Davis and West Sacramento.2024 May 17, Orko Manna, “Toll lane project on Interstate 80 between West Sacramento and Davis gets green light”, in KCRA, archived from the original on 22 May 2024

   Synonyms:

   increment

3. To multiply by the production of young; to be fertile, fruitful, or prolific.
   • Fishes are infinitely more numerous of increasing than Beasts or Birds, as appears by the numerous Spawn.a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […]...

   Synonyms:

   proliferate, propagate, teem

4. (intransitive) To become more nearly full; to show more of the surface; to wax.
   • The Moon increases.

   Synonyms:

   wax

Noun

IPA/ˈɪnkɹiːs/

increase (countable and uncountable, plural increases)

1. An amount by which a quantity is increased.
   • An increase of about 30% in hits on the website.
   • Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term...2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist

   Synonyms:

   gain

2. For a quantity, the act or process of becoming larger.
   • In socialist religion God was replaced by humanity, a superior creation in which the individual could find an object of love and worship: he could thus rise above his insignificant ego and experience the joy of sacrificing his own interest to the infinite increase of collective Being..1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in...

   Synonyms:

   enlargement

3. Offspring, progeny.
   • That infortunate imperfit Embrion of my idle houres the Ile of Dogs before mentioned, breeding vnto me ſuch bitter throwes in the teaming as it did, and the tempeſtes that aroſe at his birth, ſo aſtoniſhing outragious and violent as if my braine had bene conceiued of another Hercules, I was ſo...1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC, page 2
4. (crochet) The creation of one or more new stitches; see Increase (knitting).

Proper noun capitalized: Increase

Increase

1. (historical) A male given name.