Thicken
['θɪk(ə)n] or ['θɪkən]
Definition
(verb.) become thick or thicker; 'The sauce thickened'; 'The egg yolk will inspissate'.
(verb.) make thick or thicker; 'Thicken the sauce'; 'inspissate the tar so that it becomes pitch'.
(verb.) make viscous or dense; 'thicken the sauce by adding flour'.
Edited by Ben--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To make thick (in any sense of the word).
(v. t.) To render dense; to inspissate; as, to thicken paint.
(v. t.) To make close; to fill up interstices in; as, to thicken cloth; to thicken ranks of trees or men.
(v. t.) To strengthen; to confirm.
(v. t.) To make more frequent; as, to thicken blows.
(v. i.) To become thick.
Checker: Stella
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Inspissate, make thick.
v. n. Grow thick, become inspissated.
Inputed by Franklin
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Condense, inspissate, incrassate, compact, solidify, befoul, obscure, bemire,becloud, increase, coagulate, amalgamate, commingle, intermix, crowd, multiply,enlarge, expand, extend, broaden, deepen, obstruct, confuse
ANT:Rarify, dissipate, refine, attenuate, clear, purify, strain, percolate,clarify, defecate, depurate, brighten, lighten, open, filtrate, diminish,separate, reduce, narrow, contract, liberate, free, extricate, unravel,disentangle, loosen
Checker: Patty
Examples
- That perils had thickened about him fast, and might thicken faster and faster yet, he of course knew now. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- The fur of this species will thicken and its whiteness increase with every generation, until there is no advantage in carrying any more fur. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- At last, when the darkness and stillness had seemed for hours to thicken one another, she heard the bell at the gate. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Even though the muscles of accommodation do their best to bulge and thicken the lens, the rays of light are not bent sufficiently to focus sharply on the retina. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- That perils had thickened about him fast, and might thicken faster and faster yet, he of course knew now. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- The light of the debut still lingered on the horizon, but the cloud had thickened; and suddenly it broke. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Her heart was set on performing her promise to Tom and Aunt Chloe, and she sighed as discouragements thickened around her. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- As I still pursued my journey to the northward, the snows thickened, and the cold increased in a degree almost too severe to support. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- Thirdly, the employment of the fulling-mill for thickening the cloth, instead of treading it in water. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The reddleman watched his form as it diminished to a speck on the road and became absorbed in the thickening films of night. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, thickening into a grove at the highest point. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- He sat for a long time on the bench in the thickening dusk, his eyes never turning from the balcony. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- Robert Jordan felt the ache in his throat and his voice thickening. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- The plot was but thickening; the wonder but culminating. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- The wind blew fiercely now, and the thickening white storm waxed bewildering; but on she came, and not dismayed. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Inputed by Cleo