v. make the most of; "He maximized his role"

v. make as big or large as possible; "Maximize your profits!"

v. work excessively hard; "he is exploiting the students"

v. take advantage of or capitalize on

v. put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose; "use your head!"; "we only use Spanish at home"; "I can't use this tool"; "Apply a magnetic field here"; "This thinking was applied to many projects"; "How do you utilize this tool?"; "I apply this rule to get good results"; "use the plastic bags to store the food"; "He doesn't know how to use a computer"

v. act as an optimist and take a sunny view of the world

v. make small or insignificant; "Let's minimize the risk"

v. make small or insignificant; "Let's minimize the risk"