multiplier

plural multipliers

1. One who multiplies or causes something to increase.
2. arithmeticA number by which another (the multiplicand) is to be multiplied.

   In the expression 5 × 7, the "5" is a multiplier.

   4 more examples

   The score multiplier increases each time you complete a level of the video game.

   The electron number constraint unlike the idempotency constraint can be represented by a single equation. For this reason, one can properly incorporate this constraint using a Lagrange multiplier and defining an effective chemical potential

   1997, Christopher Alan White, The Development of Ab Initio Methods for the Treatment of Large Molecules

   After studying a recursive formulation and the associated Bellman equation, in section 5.5 we analyze a Lagrangian formulation that provides useful insights about how Lagrange multipliers on transition laws relate to gradients of value functions.

   2018, Lars Ljungqvist and Thomas J. Sargent, Recursive macroeconomic theory, 4th edition, MIT Press, page 129

   But that can be ignored, because the USTR has set ε at 4 and φ at 0.25, so when computed give an overall multiplier of 1 for the imports number. And multiplying by 1 makes no difference at all.

   2025 April 3, Felix Salmon, “How to read the White House's tariff formula”, in Axios, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2025

3. grammarAn adjective indicating the number of times something is to be multiplied.

   English multipliers include "double" and "triple".

4. economicsA ratio used to estimate total economic effect for a variety of economic activities.

   1 more example

   There is a second-round effect of crowding in higher private investment as public sector contractors tool up to meet the public contracts, and then a third – as all firms adjust to the higher level of demand by raising business investment levels – of more crowding in and so-called “multiplier effects”.

   2024 November 3, Will Hutton, “Investment drives growth. That’s why gloomy forecasters are so wrong about the budget”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Jul 2025

5. natural sciencesAny of several devices used to enhance a signal
   1. obsoletenatural sciencesa coil; when Johann Schweigger in 1820 invented the electric coil, increasing the electro-magnetic field from a single wire, this invention was called a multiplier.
6. A multiplier onion.

   Shallots are the most prolific of all the multipliers, and easier to grow than onions.

   1995, Marian Coonse, Onions, Leeks and Garlic: A Handbook for Gardeners, page 52