Meaning & use
strengthen
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To make something stronger, firmer or more effective.
Grammar: Takes an object: strengthen the wall, strengthen your case.
Patterns
- strengthen something
- strengthen something with something
Regular exercise strengthens your heart.
The engineers strengthened the bridge with steel beams.
New evidence strengthened her argument.
verbintransitive
To become stronger or more intense.
Grammar: No object: the wind strengthened overnight.
Patterns
- something strengthens
The storm strengthened as it moved over warm water.
Their friendship strengthened over the years.
The dollar strengthened against the euro.
Word forms
| third person singular | strengthens |
|---|---|
| past tense | strengthened |
| past participle | strengthened |
| -ing form | strengthening |
Common combinations
- strengthen ties
- The visit strengthened ties between the two schools.
- strengthen muscles
- Swimming strengthens the muscles of your back.
- strengthen the economy
- New jobs will strengthen the economy.
- strengthen a bond
- Shared hardship strengthened their bond.
- strengthen security
- The airport strengthened security.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reinforce
- Reinforce means adding extra support to something that already exists, often a structure or an argument.
- bolster
- Bolster suggests giving a boost to something weak, such as confidence or support.
- fortify
- Fortify is more formal and suggests protecting against attack or weakness.
- toughen
- Toughen stresses making someone or something harder to damage or more resilient.
Opposites
Word family
- strength noun
- the quality of being strong
- strong adjective
- having power or force
- strengthening noun
- the process of becoming stronger
Commonly confused: strengthen or lengthen?
strengthen vs lengthen
Lengthen means to make longer, not stronger.
Practice
The coach designed drills to ___ the players' legs before the season.
Choose one answer.
Strengthen means to make stronger, which is the goal of training drills. Weaken is the opposite and the others change length.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “strengthen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.