1
as in to harden
to increase the ability of (as a muscle) to exert physical force
lifting weights every day will eventually strengthen your muscles the army makes new recruits run for miles in order to strengthen them
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to fortify
to make able to withstand physical hardship, strain, or exposure
required weeks of physical therapy to strengthen his arm enough to pitch for the team again
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3
as in to enhance
to make markedly greater in measure or degree
encouraged the boarding school students to strengthen their ties with the community by doing public service
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4
as in to brace
to prepare (oneself) mentally or emotionally
strengthened herself for the moment she'd have to tell her friend that she had lost the borrowed necklace
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of strengthen
Ahead of Trump’s inauguration, the U.S. dollar began strengthening and hit its highest level in more than two years, as measured by the U.S. dollar index.
—
Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 7 Feb. 2025
Being patient and supportive now will strengthen your bond once the wedding frenzy is old news.
—Ashlyn Robinette, People.com, 7 Feb. 2025
Developing spiritual practices can strengthen our relationship with God.
—Judy Holmes, Twin Cities, 6 Feb. 2025
Do these exercises to help stretch and strengthen your hands, wrists, forearms and elbows.
—Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for strengthen 
Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 7 Feb. 2025
Being patient and supportive now will strengthen your bond once the wedding frenzy is old news.
—Ashlyn Robinette, People.com, 7 Feb. 2025
Developing spiritual practices can strengthen our relationship with God.
—Judy Holmes, Twin Cities, 6 Feb. 2025
Do these exercises to help stretch and strengthen your hands, wrists, forearms and elbows.
—Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for strengthen
Recent Examples of Synonyms for strengthen
Verb
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Teen Shauna is hardened by the brutal losses of winter, and adult Taissa responds differently to reminders of the wilderness with Van by her side.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
14 Feb. 2025
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My eyes were hardening around the edges, just like my heart.—
Rachel DeSantis,
People.com,
12 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Soy Milk Soy milk is also fortified with calcium (added to it during processing).—
Carrie Madormo, RN, MPH,
Verywell Health,
6 Feb. 2025
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In order to infuse those poignant nuances, the singer fortified a part of her vocal range that had thinned out from performances on her Sweetener World Tour the year in 2019.—
Marcus Jones,
IndieWire,
4 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The phenomenon will visible to the naked eye from Earth’s Western Hemisphere, but will be enhanced with telescopes and binoculars, NASA says.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA TODAY,
11 Feb. 2025
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Fears are mounting that the Trump administration could remove the country’s eligibility from the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), a trade act that enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African nations.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN,
11 Feb. 2025
Verb
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After what happened with the Lakers and Mavericks, with Luka Dončić joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis headed to Texas, the Warriors were bracing themselves for a big move.—
Jerry McDonald,
The Mercury News,
6 Feb. 2025
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These sharp, bracing periods are too infrequent, though, and the back half of the album drifts into a kind of vaporous dream state that verges on self-indulgent.—
Carrie Battan,
The New Yorker,
5 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The affected areas turn white and then blue and may stiffen as they’re deprived of oxygen, Amanda Sammut, MD, the chief of rheumatology at Harlem Hospital and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Columbia University, who has Raynaud’s herself, tells SELF.—
Cindy Kuzma,
SELF,
6 Feb. 2025
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Crime The biggest crime fight on the ballot is over Proposition 36, a measure that would stiffen penalties for some thefts and drug crimes and change parts of a controversial 2014 ballot measure that reduced several felonies to misdemeanors.—
Taryn Luna,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Oct. 2024
Verb
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The Bills’ scouting department and coaching staff will adjust, but any single opponent is a moving target.—
Tim Graham,
The Athletic,
14 Feb. 2025
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The sales totals are adjusted for seasonality but not inflation for a month, in which prices rose 0.5%.—
Jeff Cox,
CNBC,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
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That controversy intensified after West ran a commercial during Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX that aired in select markets including Los Angeles and directed viewers to the Yeezy site.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
WWD,
13 Feb. 2025
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Such measures risk destabilizing global supply networks, straining reliant industries, and intensifying geopolitical tensions.—
Michaela Rychetska and Aissa Dearing,
JSTOR Daily,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
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And regular activity levels can help bolster sleep quality, which can improve focus during performances too, McMillian says.—
Jordan Smith,
SELF,
7 Feb. 2025
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Even more alarmingly, his recent hateful rhetoric has begun to embolden white supremacists who’ve recently been spreading bigoted hate speech — and using West’s name to bolster their arguments.—
Aja Romano,
Vox,
7 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Strengthen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/strengthen. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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