strength

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The state or quality of being strong; physical power or capacity.
• noun The capacity to resist attack; impregnability.
• noun The capacity to resist strain or stress; durability.
• noun The ability to deal with difficult situations or to maintain a moral or intellectual position.
• noun The number of people constituting a normal or ideal organization.
• noun Capability in terms of numbers or resources.
• noun An attribute or quality of particular worth or utility; an asset.
• noun One that is regarded as the embodiment of protective or supportive power; a support or mainstay.
• noun Degree of concentration, distillation, or saturation.
• noun Operative effectiveness or potency.
• noun Intensity, as of sound or light.
• noun Intensity of emotion or belief.
• noun Cogency or persuasiveness.
• noun Effective or binding force; efficacy.
• noun Firmness of or a continuous rising tendency in prices, as of a currency or market.
• noun Games Power derived from the value of playing cards held.
• idiom (on the strength of) On the basis of.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To strengthen.
• noun In milling, the bread-making quality of flour; the adhesive quality of the gluten in the flour. This, when the flour is made into dough, causes the dough to retain the carbonic-acid gas which results from the reaction of the yeast, and gives the dough greater power to rise and make a larger and finer loaf.
• noun The property of being strong; force; power.
• noun In inanimate things, the property by which they sustain the application of force without breaking or yielding: as, the strength of a bone; the strength of a beam; the strength of a wall; the strength of a rope.
• noun Hence Power or vigor of any kind; ability; capacity for work or effective action, whether physical, intellectual, or moral: as, strength of grasp or stroke; strength of mind, memory, or judgment; strength of feeling (that is, not intensity but effectiveness of emotion).
• noun One who or that which is regarded as an embodiment of force or strength; that on which confidence or reliance is firmly set; stay; support; security.
• noun Force; violence; vehemence; intensity.
• noun Degree of the distinguishing or essential element or constituent; the power to produce sensible effects on other bodies; potency: said of liquors and the like: as, the strength of an acid; the strength of wine or spirits; the strength of a potion or a poison.
• noun Force as measured or stated in figures; amount or numbers of any collective body, as of an army or a fleet: as, a play adapted to the whole strength of the company; the full strength of a regiment.
• noun Available force or backing, as of a candidate: as, his strength is greatest in the cities.
• noun Force proceeding from motion and proportioned to it; vehemence; impetuosity: as, the strength of a current of air or water; the strength of a charge of cavalry.
• noun A stronghold.
• noun In colors, the relative property possessed by a pigment of imparting a color to and modifying the shade of any other pigment to which it is added.
• noun In the fine arts, boldness of conception or treatment.
• noun In soap-making. See the quotation.
• noun Synonyms Force, etc. See power.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb obsolete To strengthen.
• noun The quality or state of being strong; ability to do or to bear; capacity for exertion or endurance, whether physical, intellectual, or moral; force; vigor; power.
• noun Power to resist force; solidity or toughness; the quality of bodies by which they endure the application of force without breaking or yielding; -- in this sense opposed to frangibility.
• noun Power of resisting attacks; impregnability.
• noun That quality which tends to secure results; effective power in an institution or enactment; security; validity; legal or moral force; logical conclusiveness.
• noun One who, or that which, is regarded as embodying or affording force, strength, or firmness; that on which confidence or reliance is based; support; security.
• noun Force as measured; amount, numbers, or power of any body, as of an army, a navy, and the like; as, what is the strength of the enemy by land, or by sea?
• noun Vigor or style; force of expression; nervous diction; -- said of literary work.
• noun Intensity; -- said of light or color.
• noun Intensity or degree of the distinguishing and essential element; spirit; virtue; excellence; -- said of liquors, solutions, etc..
• noun obsolete A strong place; a stronghold.
• noun in reliance upon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The quality of being strong.