To resize means to change the size of something, making it either bigger or smaller. You resize a photo when you make it fit perfectly in a frame or on a screen. You might resize a window on your computer by dragging its corner to see more or less of what's inside.

The word comes up constantly when working with digital images and documents. If you take a picture with your phone and want to email it to your grandmother, you might need to resize it so the file isn't too large to send. Graphic designers resize images all the time to make them work for different purposes: a logo might need to be tiny for a business card but huge for a billboard.

You can also resize physical objects. A jeweler can resize a ring to make it fit a different finger. A tailor might resize a jacket by taking it in or letting it out. When you're drawing or building something, you might need to resize your design to fit the space you have available.

The key idea is changing dimensions while usually trying to keep the same proportions or basic shape. When you resize a square photo, it stays square, just larger or smaller than before. But if you stretch it wider without making it taller, you're changing its proportions, not just resizing it.