Library / English Dictionary

EMPHASIZE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

To stress, single out as important

Example:

Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet

Synonyms:

accent; accentuate; emphasise; emphasize; punctuate; stress

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "emphasize" is one way to...):

evince; express; show (give expression to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "emphasize"):

background; downplay; play down (understate the importance or quality of)

bring out; set off (direct attention to, as if by means of contrast)

re-emphasise; re-emphasize (emphasize anew)

bear down (pay special attention to)

topicalize (emphasize by putting heavy stress on or by moving to the front of the sentence)

point up (emphasize, especially by identification)

drive home; press home; ram home (make clear by special emphasis and try to convince somebody of something)

emphasise; emphasize; underline; underscore (give extra weight to (a communication))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

emphasis (special importance or significance)

emphasizing (the act of giving special importance or significance to something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give extra weight to (a communication)

Example:

Her gesture emphasized her words

Synonyms:

emphasise; emphasize; underline; underscore

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "emphasize" is one way to...):

accent; accentuate; emphasise; emphasize; punctuate; stress (to stress, single out as important)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

emphasizing (the act of giving special importance or significance to something)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Similar morphological alterations and modulation of gene expression are initiated by the binding of growth factors to their respective receptors, emphasizing the considerable crosstalk between adhesion- and growth factor-mediated signaling.

(Focal Adhesion Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

It also emphasizes the critical role of tropical forests, such as those in the Amazon, Congo and Indonesia, as regions with the greatest potential to store additional carbon.

(Study Suggests Trees' Potential to Slow Global Warming in Next 100 Years, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods, and includes whole grains, poultry, fish, lean meats, beans, and nuts.

(DASH ranked Best Diet Overall for eighth year in a row by U.S. News and World Report, National Institutes of Health)

The researchers emphasized that it's not known if the drug is safe and that the results in mice do not mean the drug would work in people.

(New Experimental Drug Reverses Hair Loss, Skin Damage, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Branch of applied psychology that emphasizes the study of machine design, the relationship between humans and machines, and the effects of machines on human behavior.

(Engineering Psychology, NCI Thesaurus)

Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.

(Organic food, NCI Thesaurus)

Later, at the piano, she played for him, and at him, aggressively, with the vague intent of emphasizing the impassableness of the gulf that separated them.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I could see their faces, flushed and angry, the brutality distorted and emphasized by the sickly yellow of the sea-lamps which rocked back and forth with the ship.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Coconut oil itself is not a repellent, Zhu emphasized.

(Coconut Oil Compounds Repel Insects Better than DEET, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Chew emphasized that this suggestion of a benefit from calcium could be due to confounding factors.

(No evidence that calcium increases risk of age-related macular degeneration, National Institutes of Health)