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# weaken

«weaken» in Mova's judaism dictionary: **to become weaker, or to make someone or something weaker…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (weaken, weakens, weakened, weakening)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To weaken means to become weaker, or to make someone or something weaker, less strong or less powerful. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#m1)

2) To weaken can mean to start to give in or change your mind («He weakened and let us stay up late»). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science it is used for forces, materials and health (illness weakens the body, rust weakens metal, a storm weakens as it crosses land, a solution weakens when you add water). In stories a hero or enemy weakens before the end. Opposite: «strengthen». Phrases: «weaken the structure», «weakened by illness».

### examples

- He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. (Writings PSA.102.24, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x1)
- Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and harried them while they were building, (Writings EZR.4.4, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x2)
- For they all would have us afraid, saying: 'Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done.' But now, strengthen Thou my hands. (Writings NEH.6.9, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x3)
- The storm weakened as it moved over land. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x4)
- Rust can weaken a metal bridge. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x5)
- Being ill for a week weakened her. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x6)
- Adding water weakens the squash. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x7)
- Mum weakened and bought us ice cream. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x8)
- Cracks weakened the wall, so it was unsafe. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x9)
- The magic potion weakened the dragon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x10)
- Not sleeping enough can weaken your body. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x11)
- The reason for wearing these, he said, was that his eyes had been weakened by the work of many years. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/#x12)

### note

From «weak» plus «-en» (to make). Regular: «weakened». Homophone trap: «weak» (not strong) and «week» (seven days) sound the same.

### In the corpora

- [He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.1794/)
- [Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and harried them while they were building,](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/EZR.99/)
- [Komodo dragons have venom glands in their jaws; the venom stops blood clotting and weakens prey.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/146-shrek-s-dragon-real-dragons-and-lizards/7/)
- [Soap weakens the "skin" of water, its surface tension.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/24-soap-and-why-washing-works/4/)
- [A civil war and smallpox had already weakened the Inca, and Spain took over their empire.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/19-the-aztecs-and-the-inca/20/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «weaken» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weaken/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.