c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) Jude ii. 25 To God aloone..glorye and magnyfiying, empire..and power.

?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 162 (MED) Þei meyntenen anticristis prestis..& magnifyenge of mennus lawis & dispisynge of goddis lawis.

c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 306 Of oon [mistress] he wolde have fame In magnyfyinge of hys name.

1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 207 Too much magnifying of man or matter, doth irritate contradiction.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxxi. 189 Praise, and Magnifying are signified both by Words, and Actions.

1728 J. Swift Misc. Verse & Prose (ed. 2) 115 To the same Class of the Magnifying may be referr'd the following.

1868 J. M. Campbell in Mem. (1877) II. xiii. 203 A growing magnifying of their office on the part of the clergy.

1988 E. K. Chapman & J. M. Stone Visually Handicapped Child in Classroom ii. 61 An acceptance..that some pupils will require..specialised equipment such as braillers or magnifying aids..is a good pragmatic basis on which to work.

c1705 G. Berkeley Commonplace Bk. in Wks. (1871) IV. 481 The magnifying power of glasses.

1774 M. Mackenzie Treat. Maritim Surv. 110 Write down..what Sort of Telescope you observed with, and its length and magnifying Power.

1807 J. E. Smith Introd. Physiol. & Systematical Bot. 14 By the help of the highest magnifying powers.

1824 Lancet 15 May 194/1 If you examine the discharge by the aid of a magnifying power, you will find..globules of pus.

1937 S. F. Armstrong Brit. Grasses (ed. 3) vii. 152 Examined under a binocular with a magnifying power of about forty diameters.

1992 Videomaker Feb. 75/1 Another method for achieving macro images is using one or more supplementary lenses. These..are available in varying degrees of magnifying power.

1650 E. Ashmole tr. A. Dee Fasciculus Chemicus Prolegomena 17 The airy and empty glory of Magnifying-Fame.

1728 J. Swift in Intelligencer ix. 89 If you should look at him in his Boy-hood thro' the magnifying End of a Perspective, and in his Manhood through the other, it would be impossible to spy any Difference.

a1854 E. Grant Mem. Highland Lady (1988) II. xxix. 304 Prints were slid in behind, and..viewed thro' the magnifying peephole.

a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. III. at Speculum Webber's magnifying bivalve ear-speculum.

1901 Munsey's Mag. 25 641/1 The microbes of disease are such minute..germs of life..under the microscopist's three-hundred magnifying lens.

1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 20/2 It is a good idea to have also a magnifying mirror for shaving or make-up.

1986 Z. Tomin Stalin's Shoe i. 9 The afternoon light was so bright and clear that it had a magnifying effect.

1990 Metals & Materials July 470/2 A high-resolution CCD camera and lens allow free movement of the magnifying head.

1646 J. Hall Horæ Vacivæ 185 Small peeces best commend themselves through a Magnifying Glasse.

1665 R. Boyle Disc. iii. i, in Occas. Refl. sig. C7^v Attention, like a magnifying glass, shews us..divers particularities, undiscerned by those who want that advantage.

1705 A. Pope Corr. 23 June (1956) I. 9 'Tis certain, the greatest magnifying Glasses in the World are a Man's own Eyes.

1793 T. Pennant Lit. Life 54 The preceding navigators had seen these people through the medium of magnifying glasses, instead of the sober eye of observation.

1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany 187 With a strong magnifying-glass the words..may be distinctly read.

1946 J. Hersey Hiroshima iii. 85 She felt as if she were under a magnifying glass in the sun.

1991 Photo Answers May 34/1 Close-up lenses are effectively filters which screw on to the front of your lens and act like magnifying glasses.