noun
- the quality or state of being strong; bodily or muscular power; vigor.
- mental power, force, or vigor.
- moral power, firmness, or courage.
- power by reason of influence, authority, resources, numbers, etc.
- number, as of personnel or ships in a force or body: a regiment with a strength of 3000.
- effective force, potency, or cogency, as of inducements or arguments: the strength of his plea.
- power of resisting force, strain, wear, etc.
- vigor of action, language, feeling, etc.
- the effective or essential properties characteristic of a beverage, chemical, or the like: The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.
- a particular proportion or concentration of these properties; intensity, as of light, color, sound, flavor, or odor: coffee of normal strength.
- something or someone that gives one strength or is a source of power or encouragement; sustenance: The Bible was her strength and joy.
- power to rise or remain firm in prices: Stocks continued to show strength. The pound declined in strength.
Idioms
- on the strength of, on the basis of; relying on: He was accepted by the college on the strength of ardent personal recommendations.
noun
- the state or quality of being physically or mentally strong
- the ability to withstand or exert great force, stress, or pressure
- something that is regarded as being beneficial or a source of powertheir chief strength is technology
- potency, as of a drink, drug, etc
- power to convince; cogencythe strength of an argument
- degree of intensity or concentration of colour, light, sound, flavour, etc
- the full or part of the full complement as specifiedat full strength; below strength
- finance firmness of or a rising tendency in prices, esp security prices
- archaic, or poetic a stronghold or fortress
- Australian and NZ informal the general idea, the main purposeto get the strength of something
- from strength to strength with ever-increasing success
- in strength in large numbers
- on the strength of on the basis of or relying upon
n.Old English strengþu “power, force, vigor, moral resistance,” from Proto-Germanic *strangitho (cf. Old High German strengida “strength”), in gradational relationship to the root of strong, with Proto-Germanic abstract noun suffix *-itho (see -th (2)). On the basis of, as in She was hired on the strength of her computer skills. [Early 1600s] see brute force (strength); on the strength of; tower of strength.