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:
The city said it would provide sandbags at three locations and encouraged residents with private seawalls to reinforce them if necessary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026
The company is one of the biggest pillars of the artificial-intelligence industry, and its anticipated initial public offering is likely to reinforce that.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
"You can use the excuse that the soil is the problem but then you should have known that and you need to make sure that you reinforce it more," Verstappen said.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
The results will likely reinforce market views that the Bank of Japan will tighten policy settings in December, bringing the benchmark rate up by another 25 basis points to 1.5%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
Wives uncoddled their husbands; there seemed no further need to reinforce their vanity.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
“This appointment reinforces LA28’s commitment to harness the unparalleled creativity, cultural influence and storytelling power of the entertainment capital of the world,” an announcement from the Olympic organizers said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
Instead, she said that the "first key consideration was energy security", as the Middle East crisis reinforces the importance of "home-grown energy".
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
For now, the research reinforces the importance of exercise while revealing that its benefits depend on an intricate network of molecular processes inside muscle cells.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
“It reinforces the idea that we are a meritocracy,” Altman said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
In doing so, he establishes that the ring is his territory, not theirs, a notion that he reinforces by shouting, by stomping about, by snapping his whip.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
The print reinforced concerns the analysts had going into the earnings, they say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
He reinforced messages from coaches and added his own opinions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Other research has reinforced the idea that exercise remains valuable even when physical performance inevitably declines with age.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
However, this Test only reinforced a worrying trend among South Africa's batters.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
There was another experience that reinforced that idea.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
With both Ethiopia and Eritrea reinforcing troop deployments along their border, the international community has expressed mounting concern about the risk of a new war.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
The leadership in the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda will celebrate the King and his work in protecting rainforests, creating cultural ties and reinforcing relationships around trade, energy, and agriculture.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Under Mao, scores of Han Chinese were dispatched to the region, reinforcing Beijing’s authority while also building a buffer with Soviet states in Central Asia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
This created a reinforcing cycle in which rising oxygen levels encouraged chemical changes that supported biological growth, which in turn helped maintain atmospheric oxygen.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
She drops a luchi forcefully onto a plate next to the stove, as if reinforcing her point.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
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