reenforce

or re-en·force

[ree-uh n-fawrs, -fohrs]

verb (used with object), re·en·forced, re·en·forc·ing, noun

reinforce.

reinforce

[ree-in-fawrs, -fohrs]

verb (used with object), re·in·forced, re·in·forc·ing.

to strengthen with some added piece, support, or material: to reinforce a wall.

to strengthen (a military force) with additional personnel, ships, or aircraft: to reinforce a garrison.

to strengthen; make more forcible or effective: to reinforce efforts.

to augment; increase: to reinforce a supply.

Psychology. to strengthen the probability of (a response to a given stimulus) by giving or withholding a reward.

noun

something that reinforces.

a metal band on the rear part of the bore of a gun, where the explosion occurs.

Also reenforce, re-enforce.

Origin of reinforce

1590–1600; re- + inforce, alteration of enforce

Related formsre·in·forc·er, nounself-re·in·forc·ing, adjectiveun·re·in·forced, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for reenforce

Historical Examples of reenforce

And a big diamond glinted as though to reenforce the remark.
In to the Yukon
William Seymour Edwards
There was no time even to call a single man of the Folk to reenforce him.
Darkness and Dawn
George Allan England
Dallas called, moving a kitchen table to reenforce the lock.
When a Man Marries
Mary Roberts Rinehart
In order to reenforce the armies and to push the war through, there was plainly but one course to be followed—conscription.
Abraham Lincoln and the Union
Nathaniel W. Stephenson
Moreover, a new factor had come in to reenforce the soldier's instinctive preference for gentlemen over shopkeepers.
The Canadian Dominion
Oscar D. Skelton

British Dictionary definitions for reenforce

reinforce

verb (tr)

to give added strength or support to

to give added emphasis to; stress, support, or increasehis rudeness reinforced my determination

to give added support to (a military force) by providing more men, supplies, etc

psychol to reward an action or response of (a human or animal) so that it becomes more likely to occur again

Derived Formsreinforcement, noun

Word Origin for reinforce

C17: from obsolete renforce, from French renforcer; see re- + inforce enforce

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for reenforce

reinforce

c.1600, originally in military sense, from re- "again" + enforce (cf. re-enforce). Related: Reinforced; reinforcing.

reenforce in Medicine

reinforce

[rē′ĭn-fôrs′]

v.

To give more force or effectiveness to something; strengthen.

To reward an individual, especially an experimental subject, with a reinforcer subsequent to a desired response or performance.

To stimulate a response by means of a reinforcer.