Weaken
['wiːk(ə)n] or ['wikən]
Definition
(verb.) become weaker; 'The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days'.
(verb.) lessen the strength of; 'The fever weakened his body'.
Typed by Alphonse--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To make weak; to lessen the strength of; to deprive of strength; to debilitate; to enfeeble; to enervate; as, to weaken the body or the mind; to weaken the hands of a magistrate; to weaken the force of an objection or an argument.
(v. t.) To reduce in quality, strength, or spirit; as, to weaken tea; to weaken any solution or decoction.
(v. i.) To become weak or weaker; to lose strength, spirit, or determination; to become less positive or resolute; as, the patient weakened; the witness weakened on cross-examination.
Typed by Floyd
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Enfeeble, enervate, debilitate, break, unman, effeminate, emolliate, unnerve, make weak.[2]. Invalidate, make of less effect.[3]. Reduce, depress, debase, lower.
Checked by Enrique
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Debilitate, enfeeble, enervate, dilute, impair, paralyze, attenuate, sap
ANT:Strengthen, invigorate, empower, corroborate, confirm
Checker: Shari
Examples
- The result of moisture in the interior of a magnet is to weaken the effectiveness of the installation, leading eventually to short circuits and burn-outs. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It is easy to see, that this property must strengthen the child's relation to the father, and weaken that to the mother. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- All these differences prevent or weaken the comparison, and consequently the passion. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- You are going out, Micawber, to this distant clime, to strengthen, not to weaken, the connexion between yourself and Albion. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- And he set himself to weaken the republicans whose fundamental convictions he was planning to outrage. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- And luxury and softness are blamed, because they relax and weaken this same creature, and make a coward of him? Plato. The Republic.
- At the time the circumstances made a deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly served to weaken the effect. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- That the power, and consequently the security of the monarchy, may not be weakened by division, it must descend entire to one of the children. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- To-day traditional Christianity has weakened in the face of man's interest in the conquest of this world. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The weakened virus increased in strength when cult ivated in a series of rabbits. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- The use of the weakened inoculation had developed it s resistance to infection. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Meade was instructed to watch the enemy closely and, if Lee weakened his lines, to make an attack. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- One curious thing the National Assembly did which greatly weakened its grip on affairs. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But two disasters happened to the Etruscans which so weakened them that the Romans were able at last to master them altogether. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- We have already shown how the hold of the Catholic church upon the consciences of men was weakening at this time. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- One of the best-known cells in which weakening of the current is prevented by chemical means is the so-called gravity cell. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- In fact, I could feel myself weakening from the mental and physical strain I had been undergoing. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Their obsession now is the weakening of the commissariat for war. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- The very fact of the enemy coming out to attack, if he does so, might be regarded as almost conclusive evidence of such a weakening of his lines. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- None of her neighbours had attacked her, because she appeared to be weakening herself by her internal dissensions. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- It would be equal to the amputation of a limb in its weakening effects upon the enemy. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- An exclusive corporation necessarily weakens the force of this discipline. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- That makes the swelling and that's what weakens you and makes you start to pass. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- This difficulty, when joined with a small distance, interrupts and weakens the fancy: But has a contrary effect in a great removal. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- This may be carried on to a great length; though at the same time we may observe, that each remove considerably weakens the relation. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- This new relation, therefore, weakens the tie betwixt the first and second objects. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
Checker: Olivier