What does strengthen mean?

Definitions for strengthen
ˈstrɛŋk θən, ˈstrɛŋ-, ˈstrɛn-strength·en

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word strengthen.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. strengthen, beef up, fortifyverb

    make strong or stronger

    "This exercise will strengthen your upper body"; "strengthen the relations between the two countries"

  2. strengthenverb

    gain strength

    "His body strengthened"

  3. tone, tone up, strengthenverb

    give a healthy elasticity to

    "Let's tone our muscles"

Wiktionary

  1. strengthenverb

    To make strong or stronger; to add strength to; to increase the strength of; to fortify; to reinforce.

  2. strengthenverb

    To animate; to give moral strength to; to encourage; to fix in resolution; to hearten.

  3. strengthenverb

    To augment; to improve; to intensify.

  4. strengthenverb

    To grow strong or stronger.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Strengthenverb

    Etymology: from strength.

    Let us rise up and build: so they strengthened their hands for this work. Neh. ii. 18.

    Authority is by nothing so much strengthened and confirmed as by custom; for no man easily distrusts the things which he and all men have been always bred up to. William Temple.

    Thee, bold Longinus! all the Nine inspire,
    And bless your critick with a poet’s fire:
    An ardent judge, who, zealous in his trust,
    With warmth gives sentence, yet is always just;
    Whose own example strengthens all his laws,
    And is himself that great sublime he draws. Alexander Pope.

    Charge Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him. Deut.

    Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest,
    With powerful policy strengthen themselves. William Shakespeare, H. VI.

    They sought the strengthening of the heathen. 1 Mac. vi.

  2. To Strengthenverb

    To grow strong.

    Oh men for flatt’ry and deceit renown’d!
    Thus when y’ are young ye learn it all like him,
    ’Till as your years increase, that strengthens too,
    T’ undo poor maids. Thomas Otway, Orphan.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Strengthenverb

    to make strong or stronger; to add strength to; as, to strengthen a limb, a bridge, an army; to strengthen an obligation; to strengthen authority

  2. Strengthenverb

    to animate; to encourage; to fix in resolution

  3. Strengthenverb

    to grow strong or stronger

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'strengthen' in Verbs Frequency: #572

How to pronounce strengthen?

How to say strengthen in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of strengthen in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of strengthen in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of strengthen in a Sentence

  1. Antony Blinken:

    Russia has the capacity on fairly short notice to take aggressive action if it so chooses, and so we are watching this very, very carefully, we discussed in some detail the support that we're providing, we'll continue to provide to Ukraine to continue to strengthen its security, its defenses.

  2. Johnny Lau:

    Now China has made use of an opportunity to do Germany a favor so as to strengthen the Sino-German relationship.

  3. Joseph Votel:

    We help our embassies with some of their messaging activities that they are doing out there to make sure that truthful information is getting out to populations. We use our civil affairs capability to help connect governments to their populations and strengthen those relationships. In doing that, (we) reduce those vulnerabilities of populations who may be vulnerable to this type of pressure they get from outside countries . Asked about Al Qaeda, Votel said the terror group was diminished in east Africa, Syria and Yemen, but the lesson of the last decade is that the U.S. and its allies must maintain pressure or the groups will reinvent and reconstitute. The leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is believed to be in Pakistan, and has been noticeably silent on the June drone strike that killed the organization's number two , Naser al Wuhayishi, who also was the leader of the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen. To me it is a good sign it’s an indication that we have been very effective at isolating him so that is kind of my initial reaction.

  4. Meng Jianzhu:

    Deepen de-radicalization work, strengthen management of religion in accordance with the law, have targeted propaganda and persuasive education to eliminate the atmosphere for radical religion.

  5. Ian Madin:

    The most important thing is to strengthen or replace infrastructure to make sure that our lifeline systems like power and water will not be so severely damaged that they require years to repair. We also need to strengthen or replace critical facilities like hospitals, fire and police facilities and schools.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

strengthen#1#7738#10000

Translations for strengthen

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"strengthen." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 6 Jun 2023. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/strengthen>.

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