Meaning & use
force multiplier
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Meanings
nouncountablebusiness
Something, such as a tool, skill or approach, that greatly increases how much a person or group can achieve.
Grammar: Usually followed by for or in: a force multiplier for small teams.
Patterns
- a force multiplier for someone
- a force multiplier in something
Good software is a force multiplier for a small team.
Mentoring acts as a force multiplier because each new hire trains others.
Clear goals are a force multiplier for volunteers who have little time.
nouncountablemilitary
In the armed forces, a factor such as better training, equipment or intelligence that makes a smaller force as strong as a larger one.
Grammar: Military use; usually followed by for or of a force or unit.
Patterns
- a force multiplier for something
Air support is a major force multiplier for ground troops.
Good intelligence became a force multiplier for the small unit.
Night-vision equipment served as a force multiplier during the patrol.
Word forms
| plural | force multipliers |
|---|
Common combinations
- act as a force multiplier
- Automation can act as a force multiplier for the staff.
- a powerful force multiplier
- Social media was a powerful force multiplier for the campaign.
- serve as a force multiplier
- Training serves as a force multiplier across the company.
- a force multiplier for
- A good template is a force multiplier for busy teachers.
- become a force multiplier
- Clear processes can become a force multiplier.
Synonyms and how they differ
- booster
- Booster is a simpler everyday word for something that improves results, but it does not suggest a multiplied effect the way force multiplier does.
- catalyst
- A catalyst starts or speeds up a change, whereas a force multiplier increases the effect of effort already being made.
- leverage
- Leverage is more abstract and describes the advantage gained, while force multiplier names the thing that gives the advantage.
- accelerator
- Accelerator suggests speed rather than size of effect, so it is narrower than force multiplier.
Opposites
Word family
- force noun
- strength or an organized group of people
- multiply verb
- to increase greatly in number
- multiplier noun
- a factor that increases something
- multiplication noun
- the act of multiplying
Commonly confused: force multiplier or multiplier effect?
force multiplier vs multiplier effect
A multiplier effect is a result in which a small change causes a larger effect in the economy, while a force multiplier is the thing that increases a group's power.
Practice
Which example best shows a force multiplier?
Choose one answer.
A force multiplier greatly increases what a group can achieve, and a tool that lets five people do fifteen people's work does that. The other choices slow people down or give only a tiny benefit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “force multiplier”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.