reinforce
Americanverb (used with object)
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reinforces,
present (3rd person singular)
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reinforced,
past participle, past
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reinforcing
present participle
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to strengthen with some added piece, support, or material.
to reinforce a wall.
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to strengthen (a military force) with additional personnel, ships, or aircraft.
to reinforce a garrison.
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to strengthen; make more forcible or effective.
to reinforce efforts.
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to augment; increase.
to reinforce a supply.
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Psychology. to strengthen the probability of (a response to a given stimulus) by giving or withholding a reward.
noun
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something that reinforces.
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a metal band on the rear part of the bore of a gun, where the explosion occurs.
verb
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to give added strength or support to
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to give added emphasis to; stress, support, or increase
his rudeness reinforced my determination
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to give added support to (a military force) by providing more men, supplies, etc
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psychol to reward an action or response of (a human or animal) so that it becomes more likely to occur again
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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reinforcesimple
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reinforcessimple
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have reinforcedperfect
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has reinforcedperfect
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am reinforcingprogressive
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are reinforcingprogressive
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is reinforcingprogressive
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have been reinforcingperfect progressive
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has been reinforcingperfect progressive
Past
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reinforcedsimple
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had reinforcedperfect
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was reinforcingprogressive
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were reinforcingprogressive
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had been reinforcingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reinforce
First recorded in 1590–1600; re- + inforce, alteration of enforce
Explanation
To reinforce means to make stronger. You can reinforce your roof by putting some extra supports under it. Besides a physical structure, there are many things you can reinforce. If you want to reinforce a message, you can say it louder, rephrase and repeat it or give examples of what you expect. You use dog biscuits to reinforce certain behaviors in your dog. Bad experiences will reinforce your fears, good ones your hopes. And when military leaders reinforce their troops, they send additional soldiers to the front.
Vocabulary lists containing reinforce
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 2
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 2
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The ACT: The Language of the Test, List 2
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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.
See Examples For:
But the emphasis is on everyone to chip in and I would also reinforce one of the points I made in this column last season, about the importance of defending properly too.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Dell Technologies and HPE stocks are leading the S&P 500 higher as Oracle’s massive spending plans reinforce optimism about demand for AI data-center hardware.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
“Recent developments only reinforce the view that we’re still some way from a restart in talks. In the meantime, the market is likely to continue to price in a sizable risk premium.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Living in that type of environment could then reinforce or further shape the same personality trait.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
Adding movement helps reinforce the linguistic content of the rhyme or song.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
“This campus reflects our confidence in what’s ahead and reinforces our long-term commitment to Irvine and the broader Orange County community.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Harbor resonance, in which the shape of a basin reinforces the water's oscillations, helped explain why neighboring ports experienced different effects.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
“Our impression after spending time with the management team this week only reinforces this view.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
But the judge ruled that "far from exculpating her, it incriminates her or reinforces the correctness" of her conviction.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Especially if every glance in a mirror reinforces it.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
The court heard Kamra later returned to the property to post a handwritten letter saying "we will be back", which "materially reinforced" Nye's concerns, Pounder said.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
That’s an area reinforced by other support measures, including the 200-day moving average and the median historical pullback of roughly 7%.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
The serious and solemn mood is reinforced by Beck’s lyrics, which traffic in archetypes—and, occasionally, clichés—from breakup albums past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
“That sort of reinforced his fear that he had to be twice as good to get half the chance,” said Ward, the co-author of Pride’s biography.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Her spirit had reinforced the magic borders of the camp, protecting it from monsters.
From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan
Inditex, which operates in 215 markets worldwide, said its business model, "characterised by flexibility, responsiveness and within-season sourcing, permits us to react to fashion trends, reinforcing our unique market position" in a fragmented sector.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
Western end users happily took the cheaper deal from China, reinforcing the concentration that became their own vulnerability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
At the same time, global yields are rising and reinforcing the move.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
The discoveries are also reinforcing the importance of the Lake Turkana region as one of the world's richest areas for studying human evolution.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
The women of Raskova’s regiments, with Soviet society reinforcing their heterosexual standards, felt that marriage was acceptable; but affairs were not.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
