Become more extreme:
— The tension heightened.

synonym: rise.

Roget 206: be high etc. adj.; tower, soar, command; hover, hover over, fly over; orbit, be in orbit; cap, culminate; overhang, hang over, impend, beetle, bestride, ride, mount; perch, surmount; cover etc. 223; overtop etc. (be superior) 33; stand on tiptoe.    become high etc. adj.; grow higher, grow taller; upgrow^†; rise etc. (ascend) 305; send into orbit.    render high etc. adj.; heighten etc. (elevate) 307.    ... show more

Make more extreme; raise in quantity, degree, or intensity.

Dutch: verhogen

Increase:
— Heighten the tension.

synonyms: enhance, raise.

Roget 307: heighten, elevate, raise, lift, erect; set up, stick up, perch up, perk up, tilt up; rear, hoist, heave; uplift, upraise, uprear, upbear^†, upcast^†, uphoist^†, upheave; buoy, weigh mount, give a lift; exalt; sublimate; place on a pedestal, set on a pedestal.    escalate etc. (increase) 35 102 194.    take up, drag up, fish up; dredge.    stand up, rise up, get up, jump up; spring to one's feet; hold oneself, hold one's head up; drawn oneself up to his full height.    ... show more

Increase the height of.

Make (one's senses) more acute.

synonym: sharpen.

Make more intense, stronger, or more marked:
— Pot smokers claim it heightens their awareness.

synonyms: compound, deepen, intensify.

Roget 835: aggravate, render worse, heighten, embitter, sour; exacerbate; exasperate, envenom; enrage, provoke, tease.    add fuel to the fire, add fuel to the flame; fan the flame etc. (excite) 824; go from bad to worse etc. (deteriorate) 659.    ... show more

Roget 549: exaggerate, magnify, pile up, aggravate; amplify etc. (expand) 194; overestimate etc. 482; hyperbolize; overcharge, overstate, overdraw, overlay, overshoot the mark, overpraise; make over much, over the most of; strain, strain over a point; stretch, stretch a point; go great lengths; spin a long yarn; draw with a longbow, shoot with a longbow; deal in the marvelous.    out-Herod Herod, run riot, talk at random.    heighten, overcolor^†; color highly, color too highly; broder^†; flourish; color etc. (misrepresent) 544; puff etc. (boast) 884.    ... show more

Roget 35: increase, augment, add to, enlarge; dilate etc. (expand) 194; grow, wax, get ahead.    gain strength; advance; run up, shoot up; rise; ascend etc. 305; sprout etc. 194.    aggrandize; raise, exalt; deepen, heighten; strengthen; intensify, enhance, magnify, redouble; aggravate, exaggerate; exasperate, exacerbate; add fuel to the flame, oleum addere camino [Lat.], superadd etc. (add) 37; spread etc. (disperse) 73.    ... show more

Dutch: op, intensiveren, verdiepen