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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Weaken \Weak"en\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Weakened}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Weakening}.]
1. To make weak; to lessen the strength of; to deprive of strength; to debilitate; to enfeeble; to enervate; as, to weaken the body or the mind; to weaken the hands of a magistrate; to weaken the force of an objection or an argument.
Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. --Neh. vi. 9.
2. To reduce in quality, strength, or spirit; as, to weaken tea; to weaken any solution or decoction.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Weaken \Weak"en\, verb (used without an object) To become weak or weaker; to lose strength, spirit, or determination; to become less positive or resolute; as, the patient weakened; the witness weakened on cross-examination. ''His notion weakens, his discernings are lethargied.'' --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
weaken
verb
1: lessen the strength of; "The fever weakened his body" [ant: {strengthen}]
2: become weaker; "The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days" [ant: {strengthen}]
3: destroy property or hinder normal operations; "The Resistance sabotaged railroad operations during the war" [syn: {sabotage}, {undermine}, {countermine}, {counteract}, {subvert}]
4: reduce the level or intensity or size or scope of; "de-escalate a crisis" [syn: {de-escalate}, {step down}] [ant: {escalate}]
5: lessen in force or effect; "soften a shock"; "break a fall" [syn: {dampen}, {damp}, {soften}, {break}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
220 Moby Thesaurus words for "weaken": abate, afflict, aggravate, allay, alleviate, assuage, attemper, attenuate, bank the fire, bate, beat, blunt, break, bugger, burn out, cave in, chasten, collapse, come apart, come unstuck, conk out, constrain, control, cramp, cripple, crumble, cut, damage, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, de-energize, deaden, debilitate, decline, dematerialize, derange, deteriorate, devitalize, dilapidate, dilute, diminish, disable, disedge, disembody, disenable, disintegrate, disorder, do in, do up, downplay, drain, draw the teeth, droop, drop, dull, dwindle, ease, emacerate, emaciate, emasculate, embitter, endamage, enervate, enfeeble, etherealize, eviscerate, exacerbate, exhaust, extenuate, fade, fag, fag out, fail, faint, fall short, fatigue, fizzle out, flag, frazzle, give out, give way, go downhill, go soft, go to pieces, gruel, hamstring, harass, harm, hit the skids, honeycomb, hors de combat, hospitalize, hurt, impair, inactivate, incapacitate, indispose, injure, invalid, irritate, jade, keep within bounds, kibosh, knock out, knock up, lame, languish, lay, lay low, lay up, lenify, lessen, lighten, lose strength, maim, make worse, minimize, mitigate, moderate, modulate, obtund, overfatigue, overset, overstrain, overthrow, overtire, overturn, overweary, palliate, paralyze, peak, peg out, peter out, pine, play down, poop, poop out, prostrate, put, put back, queer, queer the works, rarefy, rattle, reduce, reduce the temperature, remit, repress, restrain, retund, run down, sabotage, sap, sap the foundations, shake, shake up, shrink, sicken, sink, slacken, slow down, smother, sober, sober down, soften, soften up, spike, spiritualize, stifle, subdue, subtilize, subvert, suppress, tame, temper, thin, thin away, thin down, thin out, throw down, throw over, tire, tire out, tire to death, tone down, tucker, tune down, turn, unbrace, undermine, underplay, unfit, unman, unnerve, unstrengthen, unstring, upend, upset, use up, wane, waste, waste away, water, water down, wear, wear away, wear down, wear on, wear out, wear thin, weary, wilt, wind, wing, wither, wither away, worsen, wreck, yield
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