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enlarger

American  
[en-lahr-jer] / ɛnˈlɑr dʒər /

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.


enlarger British  
/ ɪnˈlɑːdʒə /

noun

  1. an optical instrument for making enlarged photographic prints in which a negative is brightly illuminated and its enlarged image is focused onto a sheet of sensitized paper

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of enlarger

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2024

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

From New York Times • Oct. 16, 2020

A bathroom has been transformed into a darkroom, complete with a custom-made Leitz enlarger and a fibre print washer installed in the claw-foot tub.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 13, 2019

Once you have a decent negative, you can slap it in an enlarger and print it countless different ways.

From Washington Post • Mar. 19, 2017

Fadi turned off the enlarger and grabbed a sheet of eight-by-ten photo paper.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai