Aggrandize

\uh-GRAN-dyz; AG-ruhn-dyz\ , Tr. Verb.

1. To make great or greater (in

power, rank, reputation, or
wealth); to enlarge; to increase.
Example: All over the country, trial lawyers and activist judges
are locked into an embrace cemented by their mutual contempt
for democratic self-government and their desire to aggrandize
their own power at its expense.

- Rich Lowry, "The Gore Hard Core", National Review, 11/20/2000