Adjacent Words

Weaken definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WEAKEN, v.t.
1. To lessen the strength of, or to deprive of strength; to debilitate; to enfeeble; as, to weaken the body; to weaken the mind; to weaken the hands of the magistrate; to weaken the force of an objection or an argument.
2. To reduce in strength or spirit; as, to weaken tea; to weaken any solution or decoction.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: lessen the strength of; "The fever weakened his body" [ant: beef up, fortify, strengthen]
2: become weaker; "The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days" [ant: strengthen]
3: destroy property or hinder normal operations; "The Resistance sabotaged railroad operations during the war" [syn: sabotage, undermine, countermine, counteract, subvert, weaken]
4: reduce the level or intensity or size or scope of; "de- escalate a crisis" [syn: de-escalate, weaken, step down] [ant: escalate, intensify, step up]
5: lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall" [syn: dampen, damp, soften, weaken, break]

Merriam Webster's

verb (weakened; weakening) Date: 1530 transitive verb 1. to make weak ; lessen the strength of 2. to reduce in intensity or effectiveness intransitive verb to become weak • weakener noun Synonyms: weaken, enfeeble, debilitate, undermine, sap, cripple, disable mean to lose or cause to lose strength or vigor. weaken may imply loss of physical strength, health, soundness, or stability or of quality, intensity, or effective power <a disease that weakens the body's defenses> . enfeeble implies an obvious and pitiable condition of weakness and helplessness <enfeebled by starvation>. debilitate suggests a less marked or more temporary impairment of strength or vitality <the debilitating effects of surgery>. undermine and sap suggest a weakening by something working surreptitiously and insidiously <a poor diet undermines your health> <drugs had sapped his ability to think>. cripple implies causing a serious loss of functioning power through damaging or removing an essential part or element <crippled by arthritis>. disable suggests a usually sudden crippling or enfeebling <disabled soldiers received an immediate discharge>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. & intr. make or become weak or weaker. Derivatives: weakener n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Weaken Weak"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Weakened; p. pr. & vb. n. Weakening.] 1. 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. Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. --Neh. vi. 9. 2. To reduce in quality, strength, or spirit; as, to weaken tea; to weaken any solution or decoction.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Weaken Weak"en, 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. ``His notion weakens, his discernings are lethargied.'' --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(weakens, weakening, weakened) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you weaken something or if it weakens, it becomes less strong or less powerful. The recession has weakened so many firms that many can no longer survive... Family structures are weakening and breaking up. ? strengthen VERB: V n, V 2. If your resolve weakens or if something weakens it, you become less determined or less certain about taking a particular course of action that you had previously decided to take. Jennie weakened, and finally relented... The verdict hasn't weakened his resolve to fight the charges against him. VERB: V, V n 3. If something weakens you, it causes you to lose some of your physical strength. Malnutrition obviously weakens the patient. VERB: V n 4. If something weakens an object, it does something to it which causes it to become less firm and more likely to break. A bomb blast had weakened an area of brick on the back wall... VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Enfeeble, enervate, debilitate, unnerve, make weak. 2. Invalidate, make of less effect. 3. Reduce, depress, debase, lower, impair.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, afflict, aggravate, allay, alleviate, assuage, attemper, attenuate, bank the fire, bate, beat, blunt, break, bugger, burn out, cave in, chasten, collapse, come apart, come unstuck, conk out, constrain, control, cramp, cripple, crumble, cut, damage, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, de-energize, deaden, debilitate, decline, dematerialize, derange, deteriorate, devitalize, dilapidate, dilute, diminish, disable, disedge, disembody, disenable, disintegrate, disorder, do in, do up, downplay, drain, draw the teeth, droop, drop, dull, dwindle, ease, emacerate, emaciate, emasculate, embitter, endamage, enervate, enfeeble, etherealize, eviscerate, exacerbate, exhaust, extenuate, fade, fag, fag out, fail, faint, fall short, fatigue, fizzle out, flag, frazzle, give out, give way, go downhill, go soft, go to pieces, gruel, hamstring, harass, harm, hit the skids, honeycomb, hors de combat, hospitalize, hurt, impair, inactivate, incapacitate, indispose, injure, invalid, irritate, jade, keep within bounds, kibosh, knock out, knock up, lame, languish, lay, lay low, lay up, lenify, lessen, lighten, lose strength, maim, make worse, minimize, mitigate, moderate, modulate, obtund, overfatigue, overset, overstrain, overthrow, overtire, overturn, overweary, palliate, paralyze, peak, peg out, peter out, pine, play down, poop, poop out, prostrate, put, put back, queer, queer the works, rarefy, rattle, reduce, reduce the temperature, remit, repress, restrain, retund, run down, sabotage, sap, sap the foundations, shake, shake up, shrink, sicken, sink, slacken, slow down, smother, sober, sober down, soften, soften up, spike, spiritualize, stifle, subdue, subtilize, subvert, suppress, tame, temper, thin, thin away, thin down, thin out, throw down, throw over, tire, tire out, tire to death, tone down, tucker, tune down, turn, unbrace, undermine, underplay, unfit, unman, unnerve, unstrengthen, unstring, upend, upset, use up, wane, waste, waste away, water, water down, wear, wear away, wear down, wear on, wear out, wear thin, weary, wilt, wind, wing, wither, wither away, worsen, wreck, yield