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strengthen

[strengk-thuhn, streng-, stren-]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to make stronger; give strength to.
  2. Phonetics. to change (a speech sound) to an articulation requiring more effort, as from fricative to stop or nongeminate to geminate.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to gain strength; grow stronger.
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Origin of strengthen

First recorded in 1250–1300, strengthen is from the Middle English word strengthnen. See strength, -en1
Related formsstrength·en·er, nounstrength·en·ing·ly, adverbo·ver·strength·en, verbpre·strength·en, verb (used with object)re·strength·en, verbun·strength·ened, adjectiveun·strength·en·ing, adjective

Synonyms

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1. buttress, reinforce, fortify, support.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

clampsplintmainstaybuttresscolumntrussassistancestanchionstayunderpinningshoreaidpoststrutbracestrengthenercordialpick-me-updrugrestorative

Examples from the Web for strengthener

Historical Examples

  • Indirectly Attila was the strengthener of the Papacy, and the founder of Venice.

    Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 1 of 8

    Various

  • By strengthening their souls to do right; hence called the Comforter or Strengthener.

  • This Metheglin is a great Balsom and strengthener of the Viscera; is excellent in colds and coughs and consumptions.

  • An advantage this, a strengthener of love, in which even the conjugal tie is beneath the fraternal.

    Mansfield Park

    Jane Austen

British Dictionary definitions for strengthener

strengthen

verb
  1. to make or become stronger
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Derived Formsstrengthener, noun
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 strengthener

strengthen

v.

c.1300, from strength + -en (1). Related: Strengthened; strengthening.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper