Words / B2

in-TENS-if-eye/ɪnˈtensɪfaɪ/

To intensify is to become or make something stronger: protests intensified; intensify the search. Increase is wider; escalate is close for conflict. Protests intensified after the bursary freeze. News and weather (intensify into a gale). Do not intensify a polite email into a rant in the same sentence without evidence.

Meaning

To become or make something stronger or more extreme.

Examples

• “Protests intensified after the sixth-form bursary was frozen.”
• “The low will intensify overnight, which is the Met Office sense.”

Good to know

intensify into; intensify a campaign / search. Wider: increase. Conflict: escalate. Noun: intensification. News and weather.

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