Library / English Dictionary

WEAKEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become weaker

Example:

The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "weaken" is one way to...):

decrease; diminish; fall; lessen (decrease in size, extent, or range)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "weaken"):

wilt (lose strength)

slack; slacken; slow; slow down; slow up (become slow or slower)

slacken (become looser or slack)

loose; loosen; relax (become loose or looser or less tight)

pall (lose strength or effectiveness; become or appear boring, insipid, or tiresome (to))

dull (make less lively or vigorous)

languish; pine away; waste (lose vigor, health, or flesh, as through grief)

blur; dim; slur (become vague or indistinct)

lessen; subside (wear off or die down)

fade; melt (become less clearly visible or distinguishable; disappear gradually or seemingly)

collapse (lose significance, effectiveness, or value)

die down (become progressively weaker)

disappear; evaporate; melt (become less intense and fade away gradually)

attenuate (become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Antonym:

strengthen (gain strength)

Derivation:

weakening (becoming weaker)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lessen the strength of

Example:

The fever weakened his body

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "weaken" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Cause:

weaken (become weaker)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "weaken"):

wash out (deplete of strength or vitality)

castrate; emasculate (deprive of strength or vigor)

negate; neutralise; neutralize; nullify (make ineffective by counterbalancing the effect of)

dampen (reduce the amplitude (of oscillations or waves))

enervate (weaken mentally or morally)

debilitate; drain; enfeeble (make weak)

moderate; mollify; season; temper (make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else)

blunt (make less intense)

attenuate; rarefy (weaken the consistency of (a chemical substance))

cut; dilute; reduce; thin; thin out (lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture)

cripple; stultify (deprive of strength or efficiency; make useless or worthless)

etiolate (make weak by stunting the growth or development of)

unbrace (remove a brace or braces from)

depress (lessen the activity or force of)

shake (undermine or cause to waver)

devitalise; devitalize (sap of life or energy)

break (weaken or destroy in spirit or body)

de-energise; de-energize (deprive of energy)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Antonym:

strengthen (make strong or stronger)

Derivation:

weakener (that which weakens or causes a loss of strength)

weakening (the act of reducing the strength of something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Reduce the level or intensity or size or scope of

Example:

de-escalate a crisis

Synonyms:

de-escalate; step down; weaken

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "weaken" is one way to...):

decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

weakener (that which weakens or causes a loss of strength)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Lessen in force or effect

Example:

break a fall

Synonyms:

break; damp; dampen; soften; weaken

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "weaken" is one way to...):

blunt; deaden (make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "weaken"):

deafen (make soundproof)

damp; dampen; deaden (make vague or obscure or make (an image) less visible)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

weakener (that which weakens or causes a loss of strength)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Destroy property or hinder normal operations

Example:

The Resistance sabotaged railroad operations during the war

Synonyms:

counteract; countermine; sabotage; subvert; undermine; weaken

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "weaken" is one way to...):

disobey (refuse to go along with; refuse to follow; be disobedient)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "weaken"):

derail (cause to run off the tracks)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Recent evidence suggests that the AMOC began weakening again 150 years ago.

(A new study is the first to measure the time lags between changing ocean currents and major climate shifts., University of Cambridge)

Absence had increased her desire of seeing Charlotte again, and weakened her disgust of Mr. Collins.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

These lipid metabolites might represent the weakening of nerve cell membranes in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

(Study Points to Possible Blood Test For Memory Decline, Alzheimer’s, NIH)

This prevents proper bacterial cell wall synthesis, thereby results in the weakening of the bacterial cell wall and eventually leading to cell lysis.

(Azlocillin, NCI Thesaurus)

Dr. Sontheimer and his colleagues were surprised that very small groups of tumor cells, even individual cells, were sufficient to weaken the BBB early in the disease process.

(Brain tumor invasion along blood vessels may lead to new cancer treatments, NIH)

Excessive inflammation, the researchers found, was weakening the hedgehog proteins in the diabetic mice.

(Protein Discovery Could Help Heal Bones in Diabetics, VOA)

A high force of blood flow can damage and weaken your blood vessels.

(The genetics of blood pressure, NIH)

The solution is made from a weakened form of a bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis (bacillus Calmette-Guérin) that does not cause disease.

(bacillus Calmette-Guérin solution, NCI Dictionary)

A weakened form of the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (bacillus Calmette-Guérin) that does not cause disease.

(bacillus Calmette-Guérin, NCI Dictionary)

It is most common in older people and in people with weakened immune systems.

(Merkel cell cancer, NCI Dictionary)