reinforced

1. 1
   adjective

   Made stronger or more secure through added material, structure, or support.

   Like a rope braided with extra strands so it can bear more weight.

   Engineers chose reinforced concrete for the bridge supports.

   The jacket's reinforced seams resisted tearing under heavy strain.

   Similarfortified

   Oppositeunreinforced

   Note

   The participle has settled into a describing word: reinforce plus -ed, placed before nouns like concrete and seams. As an adjective it compares with more and most (a more reinforced design), and its opposite is unreinforced. To tell it from the past participle, try adding a by-phrase. "The walls were reinforced by engineers" names an action, while "reinforced walls" names a lasting state.

2. 2
   verb

   Past tense and past participle of reinforce.

   The general reinforced his front line with fresh troops overnight.

   The retaining walls had been reinforced with steel rods.

   Note

   One regular -ed spelling does double duty here. It serves as the simple past (the general reinforced the line) and as the past participle, which pairs with have for the perfect and be for the passive. Reinforce is transitive in every meaning: strengthening, emphasizing, encouraging a behavior through repetition. So the passive comes easily: walls are reinforced, habits are reinforced. Placed before a noun, the form becomes the adjective.

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