encourage

verb

1. 1

   To mentally support; to motivate, give courage, hope or spirit.

   I encouraged him during his race.

   Delia's coach encouraged her to focus on the positives.

   The visitors we do not encourage are the many small boys who slip in unobserved and are a danger to themselves and the staff.

   "It's a lose-lose situation. It can be turned into a win-win. We should be encouraging and supporting expensive bi-mode freight locomotives, especially where capacity is constrained.

2. 2

   To spur on, strongly recommend.

   We encourage the use of bicycles in the town centre.

   We encourage you to cycle instead of taking the car.

3. 3

   To foster, give help or patronage.

   The royal family has always encouraged the arts in word and deed.

   In addition the Marquess built a brickworks adjacent to the colliery, and also greatly improved the harbour to encourage coastal shipping.

   They remove all sense of self-responsibility from us prisoners. We have virtually no control over any aspect of our lives. This does not encourage our ability to return to community life outside.

   And this is where the larger problem lies: when states try to enforce impossible bans, everyone loses. 3D printing farragoes have all the hallmarks of the absolute worst kind of ineffectual ban: one which encourages overly draconian laws that carry huge side effects, and that ultimately to have little to no effect.

Forms

past tense

encouraged

past participle

encouraged

present participle

encouraging

third person singular

encourages