reinforcement
Americannoun
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the act of reinforcing.
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the state of being reinforced.
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something that reinforces or strengthens.
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Often reinforcements. an additional supply of personnel, ships, aircraft, etc., for a military force.
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a system of steel bars, strands, wires, or mesh for absorbing the tensile and shearing stresses in concrete work.
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Psychology.
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a procedure, as a reward or punishment, that alters a response to a stimulus.
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the act of reinforcing a response.
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of reinforcement
Explanation
Reinforcement is a way to learn and remember things, like a student who repeats the facts he has studied for a test over and over, or the ways we praise children when they share their toys or say "please" and "thank you" — reinforcement of the good manners we want them to use. You’ll often hear the word reinforcement used in relation to a building or other structure that gets additional mechanical support, but the word can be used in a broader sense as well. In addition to strengthening walls, reinforcement can refer to the strengthening or propping up of an argument or a particular point of view. For example, if you show up in class every day and ask questions, that adds reinforcement to the notion that you’re a diligent student.
Vocabulary lists containing reinforcement
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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Stay Strong: Forc and Fort
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Psychology
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The recent files include a heavily redacted 2015 Drug Enforcement Administration memo about an investigation into suspicious money transfers by Epstein.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026
Between 2015 and 2024, their records indicate Customs and Border Protection and the Drug Enforcement Administration requested 14 permit applications for “law enforcement surveillance devices.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2026
But in a 1989 profile by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, he has frizzy hair and rougher features.
From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026
As a well-placed source confirmed to me contemporaneously, the operation had hastily brought in dozens of agents from ICE, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, and the IRS, potentially among other agencies.
From Slate • Feb. 9, 2026
Trump touted the work the Guard would do when they joined a federal task force that includes the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and ICE.
From Salon • Sep. 15, 2025
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
