Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

influence

2 verb
     
influence2 S2 W2 [transitive]
to affect the way someone or something develops, behaves, thinks etc without directly forcing or ordering them:
Marx was strongly influenced by the historian Niebuhr.
Several factors are likely to influence this decision.
influence somebody to do something
What influenced you to take up nursing?
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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