to change something slightly in order to improve it or make it more suitable
She modified the recipe by adding more garlic.
The mechanic is modifying the engine to improve its performance.
✦ Early 17th century from Latin modificare ‘to measure, moderate, modify’.
to officially change a legal, formal, or technical document so that it reflects new conditions
The judge modified the court order to reflect the new evidence.
After negotiations, both companies modified the contract terms.
✦ See general etymology under first sense.
(linguistics) of a word or phrase: to limit or describe the meaning of another word or phrase
In the phrase "red apple," the adjective "red" modifies the noun "apple".
Adverbs often modify verbs to give more detail, like "run quickly."
✦ Same origin as general sense, with specialized linguistic application arising in the 19th century.
a key on a computer keyboard, such as Shift, Control, or Alt, that changes the function of another key when pressed in combination.
Hold the Ctrl modifier while clicking to open a link in a new tab.
The Shift modifier turns lowercase letters into capitals.
✦ Mid-16th century: agent noun from the verb modify, from Old French modifier, from Latin modificare, from modus (see mode) + -ficare (from facere 'make'). Sense in computing from 1970s.
a word, phrase, or clause that provides additional description or information about another word or group of words.
In "the quick brown fox", "quick" and "brown" are modifiers.
Adjectives often function as modifiers for nouns.
✦ Mid-16th century: agent noun from the verb modify, from Old French modifier, from Latin modificare, from modus (see mode) + -ficare (from facere 'make').
a person or thing that makes partial or minor changes to something.
The mechanic used a small tool as a speed modifier on the engine.
This dye acts as a color modifier for the fabric.
