Strengthening/Weakening Flashcards
To bolster something or someone, bolstering.
To support or strengthen; to add padding to something - adjective: bolstered.
“The fall in interest rates is starting to bolster confidence.”
“She worn a bolstered dress.”
To buttress something, buttressing.
To support, to increase the strength of or justification for something, especially a wall.
“Whether in business or politics, partnerships are supposed to buttress the strengths of those involved.”
To prop someone or something up, a prop, propping.
To support or assist someone or something that would otherwise fail or decline; to support or keep in position; to lean something against something else; to use an object to keep something in position.
Noun: a support.
“The government spent £3 billion in an attempt to prop up the pound.”
“She propped her chin in the palm of her right hand.”
“A jug of milk with a note propped against it.”
“he found that the door was propped open.”
To corroborate something, corroborating.
To confirm or give support to a statement, theory, or finding.
“The witness had corroborated the boy’s account of the attack.”
To enhance something, enhancing.
To intensify, increase, or further improve the quality, value, or extent of something.
“His refusal does nothing to enhance his reputation.”
To fortify something or someone, fortifying.
To provide a place with defensive works as protection against attack; to strengthen someone mentally of physically.
“The whole town was heavily fortified.”
“The girl was fortified by her religious faith.”
To hearten someone, heartening, hearteningly.
To make someone more cheerful or confident.
“This is the most heartening news of all.”
To stiffen (something), stiffening.
To make or become stiff (not flexible) or rigid; to support or strengthen a fabric by adding tape or adhesive; to make or become stronger.
“My back stiffens up and I can’t bend.”
“Outrage over the murders stiffened the government’s resolve to confront the Mafia.”
To substantiate something, substantiation, substantiating.
To provide evidence to support or prove the truth of something.
“They had found nothing to substantiate the allegations.”
To enervate someone, enervate, enervating.
Make someone feel drained of energy or vitality.
Feeling tired and weak.
“His enemies were enervated and lacked a strong voice.”
“A few weeks of the Blair, Bush, and Campbell vision of an enervate media might change their minds.”
To flag, flagging.
To get tired, to lose enthusiasm.
“The conversation was flagging until the mention of her name.”
To obviate something, an obviation, obviating.
To avoid or prevent a need or difficulty - Only things that have not yet occurred.
“The presence of roller blinds obviated the need for curtains.”
“A parachute can be used to obviate disaster”
To stultify something or someone, stultification (U), stultifying.
To cause someone to appear foolish or absurd; to cause to lose enthusiasm and initiative, especially as a result of a tedious or restrictive routine.
“Like women elsewhere, African women are stultified by circumstances largely beyond their control.”
“The stultifying conformity of provincial life.”
To vitiate something, vitiation (U), vitiating.
To make someone very weak and infirm; to hinder, delay or weaken something.
“Development programmes have been vitiated by the rise in population.”
“The insurance is vitiated because of foolish acts on the part of the tenant.”
To debilitate someone or something, a debilitation, debilitating.
To make someone very weak and infirm; to hinder, delay or weaken something.
“He was severely debilitated by a stomach upset.”
“Hard drugs destroy families and debilitate communities.”
