Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - weaken

(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