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Definition of weaken
weakened
;weakening
play \ˈwēk-niŋ, ˈwē-kə-\transitive verb
1 : to make weak : lessen the strength of
2 : to reduce in intensity or effectiveness
intransitive verb
: to become weak
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Examples of weaken in a Sentence
The disease weakens the immune system.
Some are concerned that the increase in taxes will weaken the economy.
The beams had been weakened by water damage.
efforts to weaken environmental laws
The recent setbacks have not weakened our resolve.
These kinds of contradictions weaken your argument.
The disease causes the immune system to weaken.
The dollar has continued to weaken against the euro.
Lower interest rates have weakened the dollar.
Recent Examples of weaken from the Web
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Republicans hit another roadblock on Monday in their quest to repeal or weaken recent environmental rules restricting methane emissions.
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The magnetic field, now supplied by graceful hoops of wire encircling the blimp, weakens to a mere six times Earth's field as the field lines spread out.
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Cindy has weakened and has been downgraded to a tropical depression by the National Hurricane Center.
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While French voters have handed past presidents large majorities in parliament, what's different this time is that Macron's party is splitting — and therefore weakening — the opposition.
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A resurgent al Qaeda is attempting to take advantage of a weakening Islamic State to challenge its rival for pre-eminence in the global jihadist movement, the European Union’s police agency warned Thursday.
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Tokyo’s Nikkei benchmark index finished above the 20,000 level for the first time since December 2015 as the yen weakened.
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Executives at the two biggest U.S. banks signaled Wednesday that second-quarter trading is weakening, bringing to a halt a string of strong quarters that have boosted bank results.
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The reduction in refugee arrivals has forced staff cuts at some of the state's refugee resettlement agencies and weakened an infrastructure that has taken decades to build.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'weaken'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of weaken
1530
Synonym Discussion of weaken
WEAKEN Defined for English Language Learners
weaken
playDefinition of weaken for English Language Learners
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: to make (something or someone) weaker, less forceful, less effective, etc.
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: to become weaker, less forceful, less effective, etc.
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of money : to decrease in value when compared to money from other countries
WEAKEN Defined for Kids
weaken
playDefinition of weaken for Students
weakened
;weakening
: to make or become weak or weaker … he didn't want to weaken his message by varying it one bit. — E. L. Konigsburg, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Learn More about weaken
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See words that rhyme with weaken Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for weaken Spanish Central: Translation of weaken Nglish: Translation of weaken for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of weaken for Arabic speakers
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