Strength Meaning
/ˈstɹɛŋθ/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe quality or degree of being strong.
nounThe intensity of a force or power; potency.
Sentence Examples
I don't have the strength to keep trying.
The manager balanced the strength of his team against that of their opponent and sighed.
He pushed against the rock with all his strength.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He lifted the heavy box with ease because of his great physical ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It takes a lot of physical ____ to lift those heavy boxes onto the very top shelf in the garage.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English strengthe, from Old English strengþu (“strength”), from Proto-West Germanic *strangiþu (“strongness; strength”), equivalent to strong + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Dutch strengte (“strength”), German Low German Strengde, Strengte (“harshness; rigidity; strictness; severity”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Our castle’s strength will laugh a siege to scorn."
— c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
"He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it."
— 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations:
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 46:1:
"[…] certainly there is not in the world a greater strength against temptations, then is deposited in an obedient understanding […]."
— 1649, Jeremy Taylor, The Great Examplar of Sanctity and Holy Life according to the Christian Institution, London: Francis Ash, Part 1, Section 4, Discourse 2, p. 66:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
He lifted the heavy box with ease because of his great physical ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It takes a lot of physical ____ to lift those heavy boxes onto the very top shelf in the garage.