"even bigger and much bigger"

[Odessa Dawn]

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[SUP]16[/SUP] "Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.
More: Matthew 9

"New York is much bigger than Boston."
More: English Grammar | LearnEnglish | British Council | comparative and superlative adjectives

even

• (intensifier; used with comparative forms) ⇒ this is even better

Definition of even | Collins English Dictionary
much

• considerably ⇒ they're much better now

Definition of much | Collins English Dictionary

Are the words even and much interchangeable in the above statements? I ask this question since this is the first time I have come across such a usage of the word even in here and I need your help. Will you help me, please?

Thank you,

 

[SoothingDave]

No, they're not interchangeable. "Even" is an intensifier. "Much" talks about the magnitude of the change. I could add 1 mm to a 1 meter sized hole and it would be "even bigger." It would not be "much bigger."