Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Reinforce |
ReinforceVerb1. Make stronger; "reinforced concrete". 2. Strengthen and support with rewards; "Let's reinforce good behavior". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "reinforce" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references) |
Synonyms: ReinforceSynonyms: reenforce (v), reward (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Addition | Reinforce, reenforce, restrengthen; swell the ranks of; augment. |
Aid | Relieve, rescue; set up, set agoing, set on one's legs; bear through, pull through; give new life to, be the making of; reinforce, reenforce, recruit; set forward, put forward, push forward; give a lift, give a shove, give an impulse to; promote, further, forward, advance |
Restoration | Make whole, redintegrate; recoup; make good, make all square; rectify, correct; put right, put to rights, set right, set to rights, set straight; set up; put in order; (arrange); refit, recruit; fill up, fill up the ranks; reinforce. |
Strength | Render strong; Adjective: give strength; Noun: strengthen, invigorate, brace, nerve, fortify, sustain, harden, case harden, steel, gird; screw up, wind up, set up; gird up one's loins, brace up one's loins; recruit, set on one's legs; vivify; refresh; refect; reinforce, reenforce; (restore). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Sumner's march to reinforce Couch at Fair Oaks Station. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | A girl riveting machine operator at the Douglas Aircraft Company plant joins sections of wing ribs to reinforce the inner wing assemblies of B-17F heavy bombers, Long Beach, Calif. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | The contingency of escalating incentives is designed specifically to reinforce periods of sustained drug abstinence. (references) | |
As a role model, your decision to not use marijuana and other illegal drugs will reinforce your message to your children. (references) | ||
The therapist functions simultaneously as teacher and coach, fostering a positive, encouraging relationship with the patient and using that relationship to reinforce positive behavior change. (references) | ||
Business | These laws reinforce consumer protection regulations. (references) | |
It has developed partnerships with independent regional companies to reinforce its position. (references) | ||
Continued innovation will reinforce the competitive advantages of U.S. producers, as it will also further decrease the cost of wind power. (references) | ||
Children | Uzbekistan | The Constitution provides for children's rights, stating that parents are obliged to support and care for their children until they reach age 18. Traditional Uzbek values reinforce the cohesion of families; in most cases, several generations of a family live together. (references) |
Civil Liberties | Laos | Such cards tend to reinforce a pattern of societal discrimination against the refugees. (references) |
Russia | Rulings upholding libel and other lawsuits against journalists served to reinforce the already significant tendency toward self-censorship. (references) | |
Economic History | Cote d'Ivoire | In times of national crisis the gendarmerie could be used to reinforce the army. (references) |
Jordan | U.S. policy seeks to reinforce Jordan's commitment to peace, stability, and moderation. (references) | |
Comoros | Islam is the dominant religion, and Koranic schools for children reinforce its influence. (references) | |
Human Rights | Philippines | These groups cited indiscriminate arrests, torture of suspects, and the arming of civilians to reinforce the security forces. (references) |
Madagascar | This commission has undertaken public awareness raising campaigns and workshops to reinforce relationships with NGO's active in human rights. (references) | |
Ukraine | At year's end, the Government was working to develop regulations and additional implementing legislation to reinforce land ownership and use rights. (references) | |
Minorities | Bhutan | The failure of the Government to permit the return of ethnic Nepalese refugees has tended to reinforce societal prejudices against this group, as has the Government's policy on the forced retirement of refugee family members in government service and the resettlement of Buddhists on land vacated by expelled ethnic Nepalese in the south. (references) |
Political Economy | JAPAN | Official regulations also reinforce traditional Japanese business practices that restrict competition, block new entrants (domestic or foreign), and raise costs. (references) |
Tunisia | ONGOING MULTI- AND BILATERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS BY EUROPEAN UNION MEMBERS, AND THE GRADUAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 1995 FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH THE EU, REINFORCE TUNISIA'S EUROPEAN COMMERCIAL ORIENTATION. (references) | |
Women | Papua New Guinea | Polygyny and the custom of paying a bride price tend to reinforce the view that women are property. (references) |
Greece | To ameliorate the situation, the GSES established two regional employment offices for women in Thessaloniki and Patras in 2000. It also continued to provide vocational training programs for unemployed women and programs to reinforce entrepreneurship, subsidies to women for setting up an enterprise, information and counseling to unemployed women, and it created childcare facilities to assist unemployed women to attend training courses and look for a job. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | TIGHTS, n. An habiliment of the stage designed to reinforce the general acclamation of the press agent with a particular publicity. Public attention was once somewhat diverted from this garment to Miss Lillian Russell's refusal to wear it, and many were the conjectures as to her motive, the guess of Miss Pauline Hall showing a high order of ingenuity and sustained reflection. It was Miss Hall's belief that nature had not endowed Miss Russell with beautiful legs. This theory was impossible of acceptance by the male understanding, but the conception of a faulty female leg was of so prodigious originality as to rank among the most brilliant feats of philosophical speculation! It is strange that in all the controversy regarding Miss Russell's aversion to tights no one seems to have thought to ascribe it to what was known among the ancients as "modesty." The nature of that sentiment is now imperfectly understood, and possibly incapable of exposition with the vocabulary that remains to us. The study of lost arts has, however, been recently revived and some of the arts themselves recovered. This is an epoch of renaissances, and there is ground for hope that the primitive "blush" may be dragged from its hiding-place amongst the tombs of antiquity and hissed on to the stage. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Nancy Pelosi | I don't know if the White House is, but I do know that what I see on a daily basis in Congress is that is the case, and certainly we have heard rhetoric from the White House that would reinforce that negative message from the Congress. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
George Washington | 1789-1797 | Whether measures may not be advisable to reinforce the provision of the redemption of the public debt will naturally engage your examination. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | Congress can reinforce this confidence by insuring that its procedures permit rapid action on temporary income tax cuts. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | We are greatly accelerating our ability to reinforce Western Europe with massive ground and air forces in a crisis. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | That is why I will visit there in the spring to reinforce our important tie. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Reinforce" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 78.52% of the time. "Reinforce" is used about 837 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 78.52% | 657 | 9,962 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 20.53% | 172 | 23,722 |
| Noun (singular) | 0.95% | 8 | 124,375 |
| Total | 100.00% | 837 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "reinforce": reinforce smb.'s decision. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "reinforce": reinforce-and-stick-with-it. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
reinforce | 22 |
bamboo concrete reinforce | 2 |
hose pvc reinforce | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "reinforce"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | përforcoj (add, aggrandize, confirm, engrain, establish, exalt, extend, follow up, fortify, gain a foothold, grow strong, grow stronger, increase, redouble, re-enforce, strengthen, strut, truss, underpin), fuqizoj (consolidate, fortify, potentiate, soup), forcoj (back, bake, brace and bit, cement, consolidate, cultivate, harden, increase the strength, invigorate, potentiate, redouble, strengthen, stretch, tighten, toughen). (various references) | |
Arabic | قوى (anneal, be fortified, be more powerful, become mighty, become stronger, beefy, boost, brace, cogent, confirm, consolidate, enforce, fasten, fibrous, fortify, freshen, great, grow stronger, harden, hefty, heighten, help, heroic, in power, innervate, intensify, invigorate, nerve, prop, sinew, stiffen, strengthen, support, sustain, tighten), تعزز (reinforcement), سلح (weapon), عزز (abound, bear out, boost, build, carry, cement, confirm, consolidate, corroborate, enhance, extend, foster, help, promote, ram, sustain, underpin), عضد (nourish, promote), ثبت (affirm, anchor, assure, aver, belay, belt, bend, bite, bolt, bolt on, brace, cable, catch, chock, confirm, corroborate, countersign, demonstrate, display, endure, establish, evince, fastening, fix, lash, last, pin down, plant, prove, secure, set, spike, stabilize, stay, steady, stick, strengthen, substantiate, testify, validate, verify, warrant), دعم (back, back up, backing, backup, bolster, boost, buttress, carry, consolidate, encourage, encouragement, favor, favour, fuel, hold, prop, put up, rest, second, shore, stanchion, stand up for, stick by, subsidize, support, take sides, truss, underpin, uphold, upholding). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | получавам подкрепления, подсилвам (buttress, enforce, fortify, invigorate, punctuate, recruit, stiffen, strengthen, tone up, touch up, undergird). (various references) | |
Chinese | 强 (energise, energising, Energize, Energized, Energizing, reinforced, step-up, strengthen, strengthened, strengthening), 增援 . (various references) | |
Czech | zpevnit (firm, stabilize, toughen), zesílit (become stronger, enforce, fill out, grow strong, grow stronger, increase, intensify, magnify, strengthen, turn up), posílit (augment, beef up, brace, build up, buttress, corroborate, fortify, invigorate, recruit, revitalize, strengthen). (various references) | |
Dutch | verstevigen (affix, fasten, fix, secure). (various references) | |
Farsi | محکم کردن (Clinch, Consolidate, Fix, Gird, Rivet, Spoke, Stake, Tighten), مددکردن , تقویت کردن (Augment, Beef, Bolster, Corroborate, Edify, Encourage, Fort, Rally, Relay, Sustain, Undergird, Uphold). (various references) | |
Finnish | vahvistaa (acknowledge, confirm, corroborate, ratify, strengthen, verify). (various references) | |
French | renforcer. (various references) | |
German | verstärken (amplify, be aggravated, boost, compound, concentrate, deepen, exaggerate, heighten, increase, intensify, re enforce, step up, strengthen, to amplify, to boost, to fortify, to intensify, to reinforce, to strengthen), verfestigen (harden, solidify, strengthen). (various references) | |
Greek | ενισχύω (amplify, back, boost, corroborate, reenforce, strengthen). (various references) | |
Hebrew | לת'בר (beef up, fortify), ל"ת'בר (conquer, get over, overcome, overpower, pull through), לבצר (fortify, reduce, subdue). (various references) | |
Hungarian | támogat (abet, advocate, aid, assist, back, back up, bear up, befriend, bolster, champion, espouse, Favor, favour, Foster, further, help, hold up, lean, maintain, promote, provide support, side, stand for, stick by, subsidize, support, sustain, to advocate, to aid, to assist, to back up, to bolster up, to come out for sy, to espouse, to faster, to favor, to flank, to foster, to further, to give countenance to sy, to hold up, to patronize, to second, to side with sy, to subserve, to subsidize, to succour, to support, to thicken, upbear, uphold), megerõsítés (affirmation, confirmation, consolidation, corroboration, firmament, fortification, ratification, reinforcement), megerõsít (approve, attach, beef up, brace, confirm, consolidate, corroborate, defilade, depose, fasten, fix, fortify, harden, homologate, man, strengthen, underpin, uphold, verify, vouch). (various references) | |
Indonesian | menguatkan (aneal, consolidate, corroborate, empower, evaporate, strengthen), memperkuat (confirm, fortify, strengthen). (various references) | |
Italian | rinforzare (become stronger, brace, invigorate, steady, strengthen), rafforzare (confirm, get stronger, strengthen), amplificare (amplify, extol, extoll, fortify, strengthen). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 強化 (intensify, strengthen), 強化 (intensify, solidify, strengthen), 増強 (augment, increase). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ぞうきょう (augment, increase), きょうか (bridge girder, civilization, comictanka, culture, curriculum, education, intensify, solidify, strengthen, subject). (various references) | |
Korean | 강"한다. (various references) | |
Manx | niartaghey (affirm, affirmation, brace, building up, cement, confirm, confirmation, consolidate, consolidation, documentation, extend, fortification, fortify, intensify, invigorate, nerve, reinforcement, stiffen, strengthen), aaniartaghey (boost, reaffirm, reaffirmation, reassure, refresh, reinforcement, reinvigoration). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | einforceray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | reforçar (beef up, fortify, step up, thicken), fortalecer (arm, beef up, brace, build up, confirm, consolidate, fortify, invigorate, nerve, shore up, stiffen, strengthen, toughen), dar mais força a, consolidar (brace, cement, consolidate, fund, secure, weld). (various references) | |
Romanian | susţine (advocate, affirm, allege, argue, assert, back, back up, bear, bear up, bolster, buoy, buttress, carry, champion, claim, contend, countenance, defend, encourage, endorse, entertain, Favor, favour, fortify, give countenance to smb., hold, hold up, maintain, pep, promote, prop, sanction, second, speed, sponsor, submit, support, underlie, uphold, vindicate), oţeli (harden, steel, strengthen, temper), mãri (add, advance, aggrandize, amplify, augment, better, broach, broaden, carry, develop, dilate, enhance, enlarge, expand, extend, greaten, improve, increase, intensify, largen, lift, magnify, multiply, piece out, raise, splay, step up, swell, widen), fortifica (consolidate, fortify, invigorate, strengthen), consolida (bind, brace, bracket, confirm, consolidate, fix, fortify, fund, rivet, secure, solidify, steady, stiffen, strengthen), arma (arm, commission, man, sheathe, steel), întãri (bind, bond, brace, bracket, confirm, consolidate, corroborate, enforce, entrench, fix, fortify, harden, indurate, invigorate, nerve, recruit, screw, season, stay, steady, steel, stiffen, strengthen, stress, tone up). (various references) | |
Russian | усиливать (amplify, deepen, escalate, exasperate, give an edge, increase, intensify, redouble, reenforce, strengthen, turn up). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | pojačati (amplify, boost, heighten, intensify, redouble, soup, turn up). (various references) | |
Spanish | reforzarse (buttress, intensify), armar (arm, Armor, armour, assemble, bend, carry on, fit out, kick up, load, piece together, put together, rig up, set, ship). (various references) | |
Swedish | förstärka (amplify, augmented, exaggerate, fortify, harden, heighten, increase, intensify, reenforce, strengthen), armera (Armor, armour). (various references) | |
Thai | เพิ่มกำลังทางทหาร, ทำให้แข็งแกร่งขึ้น. (various references) | |
Turkish | takviye parçası, takviye etmek (back, confirm, consolidate, consolidation, fortify, strengthen, support), sağlamlaştırmak (cement, consolidate, consolidation, fasten down, firm, harden, make fast, make firm, secure, solidify, stabilize, strengthen), pekiştirmek (cement, consolidate, establish, firm, harden, impact, intensify, solidify, stiffen), kuvvetlendirıci parça, güçlendirmek (beef up, brace, cement, enforce, enrich, exalt, make strong, soup up, steel, strengthen, support to, tone up, vivify). (various references) | |
Turkmen | mдkдmlemek. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | армувати (re-enforce), підкріпляти (afforce, back, buttress, confirm, enforce, piece in, refect), посилювати (aggrandize, aggravate, amplify, augment, exalt, fade up, heighten, sharpen). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | cái l m cho vững chắc thêm. (various references) | |
Welsh | atgyfnerthu (refresh, support). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | communi, communiendos, corrobora, corroborandum, corroborari, corroborasset, corroboratusque, corroboravit, corroboret, robora, roborabitur, roboramini, roborantur, roborarem, roborasti, roborati, roboratum, roboratus, roboraverunt, roboravit, roboremus, roborentur, roboret, roboretur. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "reinforce": reinforceable, reinforced, reinforcement, reinforcements, reinforcer, reinforcers, reinforces. (additional references) | |
Words containing "reinforce": unreinforced. (additional references) | |
| |
"Reinforce" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: reanforce, reinfarct, reinforcer, renforce, Rinpoche. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "reinforce" (pronounced rē'i'nfô"rs) |
| 5 | -n f ô" r s | enforce. |
| 4 | -f ô" r s | force, perforce. |
| 3 | -ô" r s | bourse, coarse, corse, course, divorce, endorse, hoarse, horse, midcourse, Morse, remorse, source. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-e-f-i-n-o-r-r" | |
-1 letter: confrere, enforcer. | |
-2 letters: coinfer, conifer, cornier, enforce, fernier, fiercer, onerier, refiner. | |
-3 letters: coiner, confer, corner, corrie, encore, fencer, ferine, ferric, fierce, forcer, ironer, orcein, orrice, recoin, refine, refire. | |
-4 letters: corer, crier, crone, crore, fence, finer, firer, force, freer, frere, frier, frore, infer, irone, nicer, niece, orcin, recon, refer, ricer, rifer. | |
-5 letters: cere, cero, cine, cion. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-e-f-i-n-o-r-r" | |
+1 letter: coinferred, reinforced, reinforcer, reinforces. | |
+2 letters: counterfire, reconfigure, reconfirmed, reenforcing, reinforcers. | |
+3 letters: counterfired, counterfires, ferrocyanide, forereaching, reconfigured, reconfigures, unreinforced. | |
+4 letters: counterfeiter, ferrocyanides, ferromagnetic, reinforceable, reinforcement, retroflection. | |
+5 letters: counterfeiters, electroforming, reconfigurable, reflectorizing, refractoriness, reinforcements, retroflections. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Quotations: Spoken 8. Quotations: Speeches | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
