Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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verb
To enlarge; to make or become bigger.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: ergative, humorous, nonstandard, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: swell, grow, aggrandize, bigger, enlarge, magnify
Antonyms: ensmallen, debigulate, shrink, diminish, belittle, contract
History
From em- + biggen or big + em- -en, possibly analogous to belittle. The morphology parallels that of enlarge (en- + large) or embolden (em- + bold + -en). The verb's first recorded use is in an 1884 edition of the British journal Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, Etc. by C. A. Ward (see quotation below). The word’s current popularity follows its deployment as an intentionally ungainly form by television writer Dan Greaney for The Simpsons episode “Lisa the Iconoclast” in 1996.
