weakening
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the process of becoming less strong, powerful, or effective.
the process or instance of losing strength, intensity, or structural integrity.
Simple“The doctor was concerned about the gradual weakening of the patient's heart muscles.”
In context“The sudden weakening of the currency led to a sharp increase in the cost of imported raw materials, destabilising the local manufacturing sector.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
a rule in math and logic that says you can add extra facts to a proof without changing the result.
a structural rule in many systems of logic stating that the hypotheses of any derived fact may be extended with additional assumptions.
Simple“In this logic exercise, we use weakening to add a new premise to the argument.”
In context“The proof relies on the principle of weakening, which allows the introduction of irrelevant premises without affecting the validity of the conclusion.”
Teacher's tipThis is a highly specialised term in formal logic; most learners will only encounter the general sense of losing strength.
Synonymsmonotonicity
“While the AMOC has been strong over the past 11,700 years, since the end of the last Ice Age, many climate models project future weakening of the AMOC due to human-driven climate change.”
“They say weakening is not the same as collapse, and that the evidence may point to a slower decline or reorganisation rather than a sudden shutdown.”