/ɪnˈkʌrɪdʒ ||; ɪnˈkʌrɪdʒ/verb[T] 1 encourage sb/sth (in sth/to do sth) to give hope, support or confidence to sb 鼓励: The teacher encouraged her students to ask questions. 老师鼓励她的学生提问题。
2 to make sth happen more easily 促进；助长:
The government wants to encourage new businesses. 政府想鼓励开办新的企业。 [OPP] discourage 反义词为 discourage➔encouragement noun [C,U] ➔encouraging adj