1encourage 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➔encouragementnoun [C,U]
➔encouragingadj