Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

strengthen

/ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/ verb

Forms strengthens strengthening strengthened

  1. verb (transitive) To make strong or stronger; to add strength to; to increase the strength of; to fortify. “strengthen a muscle”
  2. verb (transitive) To empower; to give moral strength to; to encourage; to enhearten.
  3. verb (transitive) To augment; to improve; to intensify.
  4. verb (transitive) To reinforce, to add to, to support (someone or something) “strengthen an army”
  5. verb (transitive) To substantiate; to corroborate (a belief, argument, etc.) “strengthen the cause”
  6. verb (intransitive) To grow strong or stronger.

Synonyms

anneal brace consolidate build up confirm corroborate enstrengthen fortify harden intend indurate invigorate munite nerve nerve up reinforce roborate steel strength thicken beef up tone tone up

Antonyms

weaken atrophy debilitate enervate enfeeble

Etymology

From rare Middle English strengthenen (14th c.), from earlier strengthen (12th c.), where -en is the infinitive ending. Probably the original form was reinterpreted as strength + -en around the time when the infinitive ending was being apocopated in late Middle English.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To make strong or stronger; to add strength to; as, to strengthen a limb, a bridge, an army; to strengthen an obligation; to strengthen authority.
  2. verb To animate; to encourage; to fix in resolution.
  3. verb To grow strong or stronger.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “strengthen”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “strengthen” (best matches first).

All 22 Sanskrit matches →