|
|
| |
Definitions for: Force
[n] an act of aggression (as one against a person who resists); "he may accomplish by craft in the long run what he cannot do by force and violence in the short one"
[n] (of a law) having legal validity; "the law is still in effect"
[n] physical energy or intensity; "he hit with all the force he could muster"; "it was destroyed by the strength of the gale"; "a government has not the vitality and forcefulness of a living man"
[n] a powerful effect or influence; "the force of his eloquence easily persuaded them"
[n] a unit that is part of some military service; "he sent Caesar a force of six thousand men"
[n] a group of people having the power of effective action; "he joined forces with a band of adventurers"
[n] group of people willing to obey orders; "a public force is necessary to give security to the rights of citizens"
[n] one possessing or exercising power or influence or authority; "the mysterious presence of an evil power"; "may the force be with you"; "the forces of evil"
[n] (physics) the physical influence that produces a change in a physical quantity; "force equals mass times acceleration"
[v] impose or thrust urgently, importunately, or inexorably; "She forced her diet fads on him"
[v] cause to move along the ground by pulling; "draw a wagon"; "pull a sled"
[v] do forcibly; exert force; "Don't force it!"
[v] force into or from an action or state, either physically or metaphorically; "She rammed her mind into focus"; "He drives me mad"
[v] squeeze like a wedge into a tight space; "I squeezed myself into the corner"
[v] take by force; "Storm the fort"
[v] urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate
[v] move with force, "He pushed the table into a corner"
[v] to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :"She forced him to take a job in the city"
Webster (1913) Definition: Force, v. t. [See Farce to stuff.]
To stuff; to lard; to farce. [R.]
Wit larded with malice, and malice forced with wit.
--Shak.
Force, n. [Of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. fors, foss, Dan.
fos.]
A waterfall; a cascade. [Prov. Eng.]
To see the falls for force of the river Kent. --T.
Gray.
Force, n. [F. force, LL. forcia, fortia, fr. L. fortis
strong. See Fort, n.]
1. Strength or energy of body or mind; active power; vigor;
might; often, an unusual degree of strength or energy;
capacity of exercising an influence or producing an
effect; especially, power to persuade, or convince, or
impose obligation; pertinency; validity; special
signification; as, the force of an appeal, an argument, a
contract, or a term.
He was, in the full force of the words, a good man.
--Macaulay.
2. Power exerted against will or consent; compulsory power;
violence; coercion.
Which now they hold by force, and not by right.
--Shak.
3. Strength or power for war; hence, a body of land or naval
combatants, with their appurtenances, ready for action; --
an armament; troops; warlike array; -- often in the
plural; hence, a body of men prepared for action in other
ways; as, the laboring force of a plantation.
Is Lucius general of the forces? --Shak.
4. (Law)
(a) Strength or power exercised without law, or contrary
to law, upon persons or things; violence.
(b) Validity; efficacy. --Burrill.
5. (Physics) Any action between two bodies which changes, or
tends to change, their relative condition as to rest or
motion; or, more generally, which changes, or tends to
change, any physical relation between them, whether
mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, magnetic, or of
any other kind; as, the force of gravity; cohesive force;
centrifugal force.
Animal force (Physiol.), muscular force or energy.
Catabiotic force [Gr. ? down (intens.) + ? life.] (Biol.),
the influence exerted by living structures on adjoining
cells, by which the latter are developed in harmony with
the primary structures.
Centrifugal force, Centripetal force, Coercive force,
etc. See under Centrifugal, Centripetal, etc.
Composition of forces, Correlation of forces, etc. See
under Composition, Correlation, etc.
Force and arms [trans. of L. vi et armis] (Law), an
expression in old indictments, signifying violence.
In force, or Of force, of unimpaired efficacy; valid; of
full virtue; not suspended or reversed. ``A testament is
of force after men are dead.'' --Heb. ix. 17.
Metabolic force (Physiol.), the influence which causes and
controls the metabolism of the body.
No force, no matter of urgency or consequence; no account;
hence, to do no force, to make no account of; not to heed.
[Obs.] --Chaucer.
Of force, of necessity; unavoidably; imperatively. ``Good
reasons must, of force, give place to better.'' --Shak.
Plastic force (Physiol.), the force which presumably acts
in the growth and repair of the tissues.
Vital force (Physiol.), that force or power which is
inherent in organization; that form of energy which is the
cause of the vital phenomena of the body, as distinguished
from the physical forces generally known.
Syn: Strength; vigor; might; energy; stress; vehemence;
violence; compulsion; coaction; constraint; coercion.
Usage: Force, Strength. Strength looks rather to power as
an inward capability or energy. Thus we speak of the
strength of timber, bodily strength, mental strength,
strength of emotion, etc. Force, on the other hand,
looks more to the outward; as, the force of
gravitation, force of circumstances, force of habit,
etc. We do, indeed, speak of strength of will and
force of will; but even here the former may lean
toward the internal tenacity of purpose, and the
latter toward the outward expression of it in action.
But, though the two words do in a few cases touch thus
closely on each other, there is, on the whole, a
marked distinction in our use of force and strength.
``Force is the name given, in mechanical science, to
whatever produces, or can produce, motion.'' --Nichol.
Thy tears are of no force to mollify This flinty
man. --Heywood.
More huge in strength than wise in works he was.
--Spenser.
Adam and first matron Eve Had ended now their
orisons, and found Strength added from above,
new hope to spring Out of despair. --Milton.
Force, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Forced; p. pr. & vb. n.
Forcing.] [OF. forcier, F. forcer, fr. LL. forciare,
fortiare. See Force, n.]
1. To constrain to do or to forbear, by the exertion of a
power not resistible; to compel by physical, moral, or
intellectual means; to coerce; as, masters force slaves to
labor.
2. To compel, as by strength of evidence; as, to force
conviction on the mind.
3. To do violence to; to overpower, or to compel by violence
to one;s will; especially, to ravish; to violate; to
commit rape upon.
To force their monarch and insult the court.
--Dryden.
I should have forced thee soon wish other arms.
--Milton.
To force a spotless virgin's chastity. --Shak.
4. To obtain or win by strength; to take by violence or
struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm,
as a fortress.
5. To impel, drive, wrest, extort, get, etc., by main
strength or violence; -- with a following adverb, as
along, away, from, into, through, out, etc.
It stuck so fast, so deeply buried lay That scarce
the victor forced the steel away. --Dryden.
To force the tyrant from his seat by war. --Sahk.
Ethelbert ordered that none should be forced into
religion. --Fuller.
6. To put in force; to cause to be executed; to make binding;
to enforce. [Obs.]
What can the church force more? --J. Webster.
7. To exert to the utmost; to urge; hence, to strain; to urge
to excessive, unnatural, or untimely action; to produce by
unnatural effort; as, to force a consient or metaphor; to
force a laugh; to force fruits.
High on a mounting wave my head I bore, Forcing my
strength, and gathering to the shore. --Dryden.
8. (Whist) To compel (an adversary or partner) to trump a
trick by leading a suit of which he has none.
9. To provide with forces; to re["e]nforce; to strengthen by
soldiers; to man; to garrison. [Obs.] --Shak.
10. To allow the force of; to value; to care for. [Obs.]
For me, I force not argument a straw. --Shak.
Syn: To compel; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce;
drive; press; impel.
Force, v. i. [Obs. in all the senses.]
1. To use violence; to make violent effort; to strive; to
endeavor.
Forcing with gifts to win his wanton heart.
--Spenser.
2. To make a difficult matter of anything; to labor; to
hesitate; hence, to force of, to make much account of; to
regard.
Your oath once broke, you force not to forswear.
--Shak.
I force not of such fooleries. --Camden.
3. To be of force, importance, or weight; to matter.
It is not sufficient to have attained the name and
dignity of a shepherd, not forcing how. --Udall.
Synonyms: coerce, draw, effect, forcefulness, hale, impel, military force, military group, military unit, personnel, power, pressure, push, ram, squeeze, storm, strength, thrust, violence, wedge
Antonyms: draw, force, force, pull, push
See Also: abduct, act, act, adduct, aerodynamic force, affinity, aggression, air unit, armed forces, armed service, armor, armour, army unit, attract, attraction, attractive force, beat back, beat back, beat in, bludgeon, bring oneself, brunt, cart, causal agency, causal agent, cause, cause, centrifugal force, centripetal force, chemical attraction, cohesion, command, commando, compact, compel, compel, compress, constabulary, contingent, Coriolis force, detail, dismantle, displace, displace, do, drag, dragoon, draw in, draw out, drift, drill in, drive, drive, drive, drive in, drive out, duress, echelon, eject, elan vital, enemy, energy, evict, extract, flick, flip, force back, force back, force out, force out, gouge, hale, hammer in, hands, haul, headquarters, hike up, hitch up, home guard, hostility, impact, impetus, impulse, impulsion, influence, influence, intensity, intensiveness, jam, jerk, jerk, jostle, juggernaut, law, legion, level, life force, lifeblood, line personnel, Lorentz force, magnetomotive force, make, man, management personnel, manpower, men, military, military man, military personnel, military police, military service, militia, Moloch, moment, momentum, move, move, move, muscle into, naval unit, nose, nudge, obligate, obligate, oblige, oblige, obtrude, organisation, organization, pack together, paramilitary, paramilitary organisation, paramilitary organization, patrol, penetrate, perforate, phalanx, physical phenomenon, pick, pick off, pluck, plunk, poke at, police, police force, press, pressure, private security force, prod, propulsion, public violence, pull, pull, pull along, pull back, pull down, pull in, pull off, pull out, pull up, push, push aside, push away, push back, push back, push out, push up, railroad, ram down, rank, rank and file, rase, raze, reaction, repel, repel, repulse, repulse, repulsion, repulsive force, reserves, riot, rouse, rout out, sandbag, schlep, screw, security force, service, serviceman, shlep, shove, social group, social unit, soldiery, spearhead, squeeze, squeeze for, squeeze out, squirt, staff, steamroll, steamroller, steamroller, stick, sting, stress, stretch, stuff, take down, take out, task force, tear down, terrorise, terrorize, thrust, thrust, thrust, thrust out, toe, topple, torque, torsion, troops, tug, tumble, turn up the heat, turn up the pressure, tweak, twitch, unit, validity, validness, vigor, vigour, vital force, vitality, wheels, winch, work force, workforce, yank
|
|
Try our:
Scrabble Word Finder
Scrabble Cheat
Words With Friends Cheat
Hanging With Friends Cheat
Scramble With Friends Cheat
Ruzzle Cheat
Related Resources:
animlas that start with k
animals starting with k
|
