Strengthen vs Secure - What's the difference?
strengthen | secure |
(lb) To make strong or stronger; to add strength to; to increase the strength of; to fortify; to reinforce.
:
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest,/ With powerful policy strengthen themselves.
*1851 , Anonymous,
*:A little hardship, and a little struggling with the rougher elements of life, will perchance but strengthen and increase his courage, and prepare him for the conflicts and struggles of after years.
(lb) To animate; to give moral strength to; to encourage; to fix in resolution; to hearten.
*(Bible), (w) iii. 28
*:Charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him.
*
*:"A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there.."
(lb) To augment; to improve; to intensify.
(lb) To grow strong or stronger.
Free from attack or danger; protected.
Free from the danger of theft; safe.
Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret.
Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid.
* Dryden
Firm and not likely to fail; stable.
Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable.
Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; commonly used with of .
* Milton
Overconfident; incautious; careless.
To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.
* Dryden
To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; frequently with against'' or ''from'', or formerly with ''of .
* T. Dick
To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping.
To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly.
* 2014 , Jamie Jackson, "
* , chapter=3
, title=
As verbs the difference between strengthen and secure
is that strengthen is to make strong or stronger; to add strength to; to increase the strength of; to fortify; to reinforce while secure is to make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect.As an adjective secure is
free from attack or danger; protected.strengthen
English
Verb
(en verb)Arthur Hamilton, and His Dog
Antonyms
* atrophyDerived terms
* strengthenerReferences
* English ergative verbssecure
English
Alternative forms
* secuer (obsolete)Adjective
(en-adj)- But thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes.
- secure of a welcome
- Confidence then bore thee on, secure / Either to meet no danger, or to find / Matter of glorious trial.
- (Macaulay)
Antonyms
* insecureDerived terms
* securelyVerb
(secur)- I spread a cloud before the victor's sight, / Sustained the vanquished, and secured his flight.
- to secure''' a creditor against loss; to '''secure a debt by a mortgage
- It secures its possessor of eternal happiness.
- to secure''' a prisoner; to '''secure a door, or the hatches of a ship
- to secure an estate
Ángel di María says Manchester United were the ‘only club’ after Real", The Guardian , 26 August 2014:
- With the Argentinian secured United will step up their attempt to sign a midfielder and, possibly, a defender in the closing days of the transfer window. Juventus’s Arturo Vidal, Milan’s Nigel de Jong and Ajax’s Daley Blind, who is also a left-sided defensive player, are potential targets.
- "[Captain] was able to secure some good photographs of the fortress."
(Flight, 1911, p. 766)
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.” He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.}}