| Main Entry: | weaken |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | reduce the strength of |
Synonyms: |
abate, adulterate, break up, cripple, crumble, cut, debase, debilitate, decline, decrease, depress, devitalize, dilute, diminish, droop, dwindle, ease up, enervate, exhaust, fade, fail, faint, flag, give way, halt, impair, impoverish, invalidate, languish, lessen, limp, lose, lose spirit, lower, minimize, mitigate, moderate, reduce, relapse, relax, sap, slow down, soften, temper, thin, thin out, tire, totter, tremble, undermine, vitiate, wane, water down, wilt |
Antonyms: |
build up, strengthen |
| Main Entry: | adulterate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | alter or debase, often for profit |
Synonyms: |
alloy, amalgamate, attenuate, blend, cheapen, commingle, contaminate, cook, corrupt, cut*, defile, degrade, denature, depreciate, deteriorate, devalue, dilute, dissolve, doctor up, doctor*, falsify, impair, infiltrate, intermix, irrigate, lace, make impure, mingle, mix, phony up, plant*, pollute, shave, spike*, taint, thin, transfuse, vitiate, water down, weaken |
Antonyms: |
clarify, clean, cleanse, distill, filter, free, purify, refine |
| Main Entry: | blunt |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | make dull |
Synonyms: |
attenuate, benumb, cripple, dampen, deaden, debilitate, desensitize, disable, enfeeble, hebetate, numb, obtund, sap, soften, take the edge off, undermine, water down, weaken |
Antonyms: |
needle, point, sharpen |
| Main Entry: | break |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cushion something's effect |
Synonyms: |
diminish, lessen, lighten, moderate, reduce, soften, weaken |
| Notes: | to brake is to slow or stop while break is to cause to separate into pieces suddenly or violently, smash or crack |
| Main Entry: | collapse |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | fall apart, break down |
Synonyms: |
belly up, bend, break, cave in, conk out, crack up, crumple, deflate, disintegrate, droop, drop, exhaust, fail, faint, fall down, flag, flake out, fold, founder, give, give in, give out, give way, go to pieces, go*, keel over, languish, shatter, subside, succumb, tire, topple, weaken, weary, wilt, yield |
Antonyms: |
build, increase, rise |
| Main Entry: | compromise |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | put in jeopardy |
Synonyms: |
blight, cop out, discredit, dishonor, embarrass, endanger, explode, expose, give in, hazard, imperil, implicate, jeopardize, mar, menace, peril, prejudice, put under suspicion, risk, ruin, sell out, spoil, weaken |
Antonyms: |
guard, protect, save |
| Main Entry: | contract |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | condense |
Synonyms: |
abate, abbreviate, abridge, become smaller, clench, compress, confine, constrict, consume, curtail, decline, decrease, deflate, draw in, dwindle, ebb, edit, epitomize, evaporate, fall away, fall off, grow less, lessen, lose, narrow, omit, purse, recede, reduce, shrink, shrivel, subside, syncopate, take in, tighten, wane, waste, weaken, wither, wrinkle |
Antonyms: |
amplify, dilate, enlarge, expand, extend, increase, lengthen, spread, stretch |
| Main Entry: | contract |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | catch disease |
Synonyms: |
acquire, afflict, be afflicted with, be ill with, become infected with, bring on, cause, come down with, decline, derange, develop, disorder, fall, fall victim to, get, go down with, incur, indispose, induce, obtain, sicken, sink, succumb to, take, take one's death, upset, weaken |
Antonyms: |
give |
| Main Entry: | cripple |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | disable; make lame |
Synonyms: |
attenuate, blunt, debilitate, disarm, dislimb, dismember, enfeeble, hamstring, hurt, immobilize, incapacitate, injure, lame, maim, mangle, mutilate, palsy, paralyze, prostrate, sap, sideline, stifle, undermine, unstrengthen, weaken |
Antonyms: |
aid, assist, enable, help, strengthen, support |
| Main Entry: | damage |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cause injury, loss |
Synonyms: |
abuse, bang up, batter, bleach, blight, break, burn, contaminate, corrode, corrupt, crack, cripple, deface, defile, dirty, discolor, disfigure, disintegrate, dismantle, fade, gnaw, harm, hurt, impair, incapacitate, infect, injure, lacerate, maim, maltreat, mangle, mar, mutilate, pollute, ravage, rot, ruin, rust, scathe, scorch, scratch, smash, split, spoil, stab, stain, tamper with, tarnish, tear, undermine, vitiate, weaken, wear away, wound, wreak havoc on, wreck, wrong |
Antonyms: |
benefit, bless, enhance, favor, fix, improve, mend, perfect, repair |