mul ‧ ti ‧ ply /ˈmʌltəplaɪ, ˈmʌltɪplaɪ/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle multiplied , present participle multiplying , third person singular multiplies )
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: multiplier , from Latin multiplicare , from multiplex ; ⇨ ↑ multiplex ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to do a calculation in which you add a number to itself a particular number of times ⇨ divide :
Children will learn to multiply in the second grade.
multiply something by something
Multiply the total by 12.
2 . [intransitive and transitive] to increase by a large amount or number, or to make something do this:
The amount of information available has multiplied.
Smoking multiplies the risk of heart attacks and other health problems.
3 . [intransitive] to breed:
Bacteria multiply quickly in warm food.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ different ways of calculating
▪ add to put two or more numbers together to find the total:
If you add 7 and 5, you get 12.
▪ subtract/take away to reduce one number by another number. take something away sounds more informal than subtract :
If you subtract 12 from 15, you get 3.
▪ multiply to add a number to itself a particular number of times:
4 multiplied by 10 is 40.
▪ divide to calculate how many times one number contains another number:
10 divided by 2 equals 5.