(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ something or if it ~s, it becomes less strong or less powerful.
The recession has ~ed so many firms that many can no longer survive...
Family structures are ~ing and breaking up.
? strengthen
VERB: V n, V
2.
If your resolve ~s or if something ~s it, you become less determined or less certain about taking a particular course of action that you had previously decided to take.
Jennie ~ed, and finally relented...
The verdict hasn’t ~ed his resolve to fight the charges against him.
VERB: V, V n
3.
If something ~s you, it causes you to lose some of your physical strength.
Malnutrition obviously ~s the patient.
VERB: V n
4.
If something ~s an object, it does something to it which causes it to become less firm and more likely to break.
A bomb blast had ~ed an area of brick on the back wall...
VERB: V n