enlarger

[ en-lahr-jer ]

noun

, Photography.

1. an apparatus used for making projection prints, having a head for holding, illuminating, and projecting a film negative and a bed for holding a sheet of sensitized printing paper.

Word History and Origins

Origin of enlarger¹

1535–45, for an earlier sense; enlarge + -er ¹

Example Sentences

But we had an enlarger to print — which actually became your room later.

From Los Angeles Times

Working in his darkroom with as many as seven enlargers, each holding a different negative, Mr. Uelsmann moved a sheet of photographic paper from enlarger to enlarger.

From New York Times

In his studio, with a photo enlarger in the corner and an orange tree outside the window, his stacks of albums show the stadium lights Escobar installed for soccer fields in working-class neighborhoods.

From Washington Post

A horizontal enlarger beamed the negative image across a room onto raw photographic paper on the opposite wall.

From New York Times

His shoulders tense, he slipped the reel inside the enlarger’s cartridge.

From Literature