increase

- definition

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verb

/ɪnˈkriːs/

present tense
I/you/we/they	increase
he/she/it	increases
present participle	increasing
past tense	increased
past participle	increased

Other entries for this word

Related dictionary definitions

Synonyms

[intransitive] to become larger in amount or number
Our costs increased dramatically over the last decade.
increase by:
The population has increased by 15 per cent.
increase in:
The club has been increasing in popularity.
increase with:
The chances of having twins increase with a mother's age.
an increasing number/proportion etc:
An increasing number of people are choosing not to have children.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of increase
1. a.
  [transitive] to make something become larger in amount or number
  We have managed to increase the number of patients treated.
  Sunbathing increases your risk of getting skin cancer.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of increase

Synonyms: increase

Other ways of saying increase

be/go up to increase: used for talking about prices or levels: House prices went up a further 12 per cent last year.

push up to make something increase: used for talking about prices or levels: It is feared that the new taxes will push up fuel prices.

rise to increase: The number of complaints rose to record levels.

soar to increase quickly and to a very high level: used mainly in journalism: Share prices have soared to an all-time high.

rocket or skyrocket (informal) to increase quickly and suddenly: used mainly in journalism: Bad weather means fresh fruit prices are set to rocket.

mount to increase steadily: The chairman is under mounting pressure to resign.

be on the increase to be increasing steadily: New cases of breast cancer seem to be on the increase.

double to increase to twice the original amount or level: Oil prices have more than doubled since last year.

treble to increase to three times the original amount or level: The last six months have seen the company's value treble.

This is the British English definition of increase. View American English definition of increase.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

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