Library / English Dictionary

REINFORCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make stronger

Example:

he reinforced the concrete

Synonyms:

reenforce; reinforce

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "reinforce" is one way to...):

beef up; fortify; strengthen (make strong or stronger)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reinforce"):

buttress (reinforce with a buttress)

line (reinforce with fabric)

bolster; bolster up (support and strengthen)

mine (lay mines)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

reinforcement (a military operation (often involving new supplies of men and materiel) to strengthen a military force or aid in the performance of its mission)

reinforcement (a device designed to provide additional strength)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Strengthen and support with rewards

Example:

Let's reinforce good behavior

Synonyms:

reinforce; reward

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "reinforce" is one way to...):

instruct; learn; teach (impart skills or knowledge to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

reinforcement (an act performed to strengthen approved behavior)

reinforcement; reinforcer ((psychology) a stimulus that strengthens or weakens the behavior that produced it)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The findings reinforce the importance of universal screening for suicide risk in emergency departments and the need for follow-up care.

(Emergency department study reveals patterns of patients at increased risk for suicide, National Institutes of Health)

This helps us work out how to reinforce the building appropriately.

(Visualising heat flow in bamboo could help design more energy-efficient and fire-safe buildings, University of Cambridge)

The two supernovae matched up well with mathematical models of Type II explosions reinforcing existing theories.

(Kepler Catches Early Flash of an Exploding Star, NASA)

The term refers particularly, to thermoplastic and thermosetting resins, poly-siloxanes, polymers associated with restorative materials; ionic polymers, silicones, polymethylmethacrylate, BIS-GMA, reinforced polymers, composites, metals, cements, dental porcelains, etc.

(Dental Material, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

A classical conditioning procedures that present different stimuli in temporal proximity (contiguity), but where resulting responses have no reinforcing or aversive consequences.

(Pavlovian Conditioning, NCI Thesaurus)

The study reinforces growing concerns about the risk and possible benefits of diuretics, which are one of the most commonly prescribed classes of medications in the neonatal intensive care unit.

(Diuretic therapy for extremely preterm infants does not alleviate respiratory problems, National Institutes of Health)

A new study reveals that the water in many comets may share a common origin with Earth's oceans, reinforcing the idea that comets played a key role in bringing water to our planet billions of years ago.

(Comet Provides New Clues to Origins of Earth's Oceans, NASA)

The locations of these different types of features reinforces the idea that the shallow subsurface of Ceres is a mixture of ice and rock, and that ice is most plentiful near the surface at the poles.

(Landslides on Ceres Reflect Ice Content, NASA)

The results reinforce the need for public policies to encourage the use of biofuels, as they clearly show that the public lose in health what they save at the pump when opting for gasoline.

(Ethanol to gasoline switch raises nanoparticles in air, SciDev.Net)

Rather, as there was something abnormal and misbegotten in the very essence of the creature that now faced me—something seizing, surprising and revolting—this fresh disparity seemed but to fit in with and to reinforce it; so that to my interest in the man’s nature and character, there was added a curiosity as to his origin, his life, his fortune and status in the world.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)