Sentence:  The Mayor declined in two interviews with reporters yesterday to <WSD>confirm</WSD> or deny the reports that he had decided to run and wanted Mr. Screvane , who lives in Queens , to replace Abe Stark , the incumbent , as the candidate for President of the City Council and Mr. Beame , who lives in Brooklyn , to replace Mr. Gerosa as the candidate for Controller . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  strengthen or make more firm