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Reinforcer

[ree-in-fawrs, -fohrs]

Origin

verb (used with object)

to strengthen with some added piece, support, or material: to reinforce a wall.

to strengthen (a military force) with additional personnel, ships, or aircraft: to reinforce a garrison.

to strengthen; make more forcible or effective: to reinforce efforts.

to augment; increase: to reinforce a supply.

Psychology. to strengthen the probability of (a response to a given stimulus) by giving or withholding a reward.

noun

something that reinforces.

a metal band on the rear part of the bore of a gun, where the explosion occurs.

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Reinforcer is always a great word to know.

So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

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Also, reenforce, re-enforce.

Origin:
1590–1600; re- + inforce, alteration of enforce

Related forms

re·in·forc·er, noun

self-re·in·forc·ing, adjective

un·re·in·forced, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Reinforcer

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

reinforce

1600, originally in military sense, from re- "again" + enforce (cf. re-enforce).

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

reinforce re·in·force (rē'ĭn-fôrs')
v. re·in·forced, re·in·forc·ing, re·in·forc·es

To give more force or effectiveness to something; strengthen.
To reward an individual, especially an experimental subject, with a reinforcer subsequent to a desired response or performance.
To stimulate a response by means of a reinforcer.

reinforcer re·in·forc·er (rē'ĭn-fôr'sər)
n.
A stimulus, such as a reward, that in operant conditioning maintains or strengthens a desired response.

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"The connection between ad and sale, so direct in classified ads, or between ad and consumer contact, reasonably direct in the January white sale ad, is very remote in the national consumer-goods ad. It is indirect in both space and time. The commercial for Coca-Cola or Alka Seltzer does not say how the customer can buy the advertised product; it does not typically announce a phone number to call or a place to shop. It takes for granted the consumer's shopping skills and it assumes the successful distribution of the product to retail stores. In time, it does not presume a quick response of customers to its efforts. It does not presume that the consumers it wants to reach will see any given showing of the ad or, seeing it, quickly respond by buying. It is a general reminder or reinforcer, not an urgent appeal to go out and buy. What the ad says or pictures, then, is obliged to be relatively placeless and relatively timeless. National consumer-goods advertising is highly abstracted and self-contained."

-Michael Schudson

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