force
Cross references:
1. power
1. force \'fo-(*)rs, 'fo.(*)rs\ \-l*s\ n [ME, fr. MF, fr. (assumed) VL
fortia, fr. L fortis strong] often attrib 1a: strength or energy exerted
or brought to bear : cause of motion or ch ange {~s of nature} : active
power 1b: moral or mental strength 1c1: capacity to persuade or convince
1c2: legal efficacy {that law is still in ~} 2a: military strength 2b1: a
body (as of troops or ships) assigned to a military purpose pl 2b2: the
whole military strength (as of a nation) 2c: a body of persons available
for a particular end {labor ~} 2d: an individual or group having the power
of effective action 3: violence, compulsion, or constraint exerted upon or
against a person or thing 4: an agency or influence that if applied to a
free body results chiefly in an acceleration of the body and sometimes in
elastic deformation and other effects - force.less aj
2. force vt 1: to do violence to; esp : RAPE 2: to compel by physical,
moral, or intellectual means : COERCE 3: to make or cause through natural
or logical necessity {forced t o admit he was right} 4a: to attain to or
effect against resistance or inertia {~ your w ay through} 4b: to impose or
thrust urgently, importunately, or inexorably 5: to achieve or win by
strength in struggle or violence : 5a: to win one's way into {~ a castle
forced the mountain pa sses} 5b: to break open or through {~ a lock} 6a:
to raise or accelerate to the utmost {forcing the pace} 6b: to produce
only with unnatural or unwilling effort {forced lau ghter} 6c: to wrench,
strain, or use (language) with marked unnaturalness and lac k of ease 7a:
to hasten the rate of progress or growth of {a forced march} 7b: to bring
(as plants) to maturity out of the normal season {forcin g lilies for the
Easter trade} 8: to induce (as a particular bid or play by another player)
in a card gam e by some conventional act, play, bid, or response 9a: to
cause (a runner in baseball) to be put out through the necessity of
leaving a base and attempting to advance to the next one 9b: to cause (a
run) to be scored in baseball by giving a base on balls wh en the bases are
fulM is the general term and implies the overcoming of resistance by the
exertion of strength, power, weight, stress, or duress; COMPEL typically
requires a personal object and suggests the working of an irresistible
force; COERCE suggests overcoming resistance or unwillingness by actual or
threatened violence or pressure; CONSTRAIN suggests the effect of a force
or circumstance that limits freedom of action or choice; OBLIGE implies the
constraint of necessity, law, or duty : to cause one to act precipitously :
force one to reveal his purpose or intention - forc.er n SYN syn COMPEL,
COERCE, CONSTRAIN, OBLIGE: FORCE)
Webster's English Dictionary