force

[ fawrs ]
See synonyms for force on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. physical power or strength possessed by a living being: He used all his force in opening the window.

  2. strength or power exerted upon a person; physical coercion; violence: The campus police are legally authorized to use force to defend themselves or others.

  1. strength; energy; power; intensity: She had a personality of great force that helped her succeed as a leader.

  2. power to influence, affect, or control; efficacious power: They were strangers brought together by the force of circumstances.UNESCO is calling on countries to increase political commitment to education as a force for inclusion.

  3. Law. unlawful violence threatened or committed against persons or property.

  4. persuasive power; power to convince: They felt the force of his arguments.

  5. mental or moral strength: It requires great force of character to go against the crowd.

  6. might, as of a ruler or realm; strength for war: The government hoped a show of force at sea would prevent an invasion by scaring off the opposing side.

  7. Often forces or Forces . the people and resources that make up the military, especially of a nation: After the surrender, the invaders withdrew the majority of their forces, but left garrisons in place.

  8. Often the force or the Force . the police force: She was a police officer for twenty years, but retired from the force a year ago.

  9. any body of persons combined for joint action: We have a sales force of one hundred people spread all across the state.

  10. intensity or strength of effect: The force of her acting was such that I nearly forgot I was watching a film.

  11. Physics.

    • an influence on a body or system, producing or tending to produce a change in movement or in shape or other effects.

    • the intensity of such an influence. Symbol: F, f

  12. any influence or agency analogous to physical force: Two powerful social forces, consumerism and economic anxiety, are clashing as a recession looms.

  13. binding power, as of a contract or law: The The Data Protection Act 2018 was passed by the British Parliament in 2016 and came into force on May 25, 2018.

  14. value; significance; meaning: The force of his message was lost on me—I didn't understand a word he said.

  15. Baseball. force play.

  16. Billiards. a sharp stroke hitting a cue ball directly below the center in such a manner as to cause it to stop abruptly, bound back, or roll off to one side after hitting the object ball.

  17. the Force, in the fictional Star Wars universe, a metaphysical energy that connects all living things and can be used for feats such as telekinesis, telepathy, influencing the minds of others, etc.

verb (used with object),forced, forc·ing.
  1. to compel, constrain, or oblige (oneself or another person) to do something: They lied to force the suspect to confess.

  2. to drive or propel against resistance: He forced his way through the crowd.They forced air into his lungs.

  1. to bring about or effect by force: The general's gunboats attacked the fort on February 6, and forced a surrender.

  2. to bring about from necessity or as a necessary result: Raising interest rates is one of the most reliable ways to force a slowdown in the housing market.

  3. to bring about (a reaction, emotion, etc.) against natural inclination: She had to force a smile in the midst of her sadness.He forced a laugh at his companion's terrible joke.

  4. to put or impose (something or someone) forcibly on a person: His habit of forcing his opinions on others made him difficult to work with.

  5. to compel by force; overcome resistance to (an action or practice): During this period of religious instability in England, monarchs tried to force acceptance of their chosen church through law.

  6. to obtain or draw forth by or as if by force; extort: They forced a testimony out of the reluctant witness.

  7. to break open (a door, lock, etc.): The thieves forced the lock, so we'll have to completely replace it.

  8. to cause (plants, fruits, etc.) to grow or mature at an increased rate by artificial means: You can force rhubarb for an earlier harvest by covering the crowns in the late winter.

  9. to enter or take by force; overpower: They forced the town after a long siege.

  10. to press, urge, or exert to violent effort or to the utmost: The auctioneer displays refreshing charm and wit as he forces the bidding and drives the price higher and higher.

  11. to use force upon.

  12. Baseball.

    • to cause (a base runner) to be put out by obliging the runner, as by a ground ball, to vacate a base and attempt to move to the next base in order to make room for another runner or the batter.

    • to cause (a base runner or run) to score, as by walking a batter with the bases full (often followed by in).

  13. Cards.

    • to compel (a player) to trump by leading a suit of which the player has no cards.

    • to compel a player to play (a particular card).

    • to compel (a player) to play so as to make known the strength of the hand.

  14. Photography.

    • to develop (a print or negative) for longer than usual in order to increase density or bring out details.

    • to bring out underexposed parts of (a print or negative) by adding alkali to the developer.

  15. Archaic. to give force to; strengthen; reinforce.

verb (used without object),forced, forc·ing.
  1. to make one's way by force: He saw her car force through the crowd.

Idioms about force

  1. in force,

    • in operation; effective: This ancient rule is no longer in force.

    • in large numbers; at full strength:They attacked in force.

Origin of force

1
First recorded in 1300–50; (for the noun) Middle English force, fors, from Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin fortia, derivative of Latin fortis “strong”; verb derivative of the noun

synonym study For force

3. See strength.

word story For force

Force has a straightforward, uncomplicated history: the word comes via Old French force from fortia, an unattested Vulgar Latin feminine singular noun from Latin fortia, a neuter plural adjective used as a noun, and derived from the adjective fortis “strong, robust, brave.” Nouns and adjectives that were originally neuter in Latin usually become masculine in Romance (languages descended from Latin): corpus “body,” neuter in Latin, becomes corps in French, corpo in Italian, and cuerpo in Spanish, all masculine nouns. The notable exception is that many Latin neuter plural adjectives and participles ending in -ia become feminine singular nouns in Romance because these neuter plurals end in -a, which looks like the singular of Latin feminine nouns of the first declension, especially if the new noun has an abstract or collective meaning. So appārentia, the neuter plural of Latin appārēns “apparent,” will become apparence in French, apparenza in Italian, apariencia in Spanish, aparança in Catalan, and aparenţă in Romanian; and fortia will become force in French, forza in Italian, fuerza in Spanish, força in Catalan, and forţă in Romanian.

Other words for force

Opposites for force

Other words from force

  • force·a·ble, adjective
  • force·less, adjective
  • forc·er, noun
  • forc·ing·ly, adverb
  • in·ter·force, noun
  • o·ver·force, noun
  • o·ver·force, verb, o·ver·forced, o·ver·forc·ing.
  • un·force·a·ble, adjective
  • un·forc·ing, adjective

Words that may be confused with force

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for force (1 of 2)

force1

/ (fɔːs) /


noun
  1. strength or energy; might; power: the force of the blow; a gale of great force

  2. exertion or the use of exertion against a person or thing that resists; coercion

  1. physics

    • a dynamic influence that changes a body from a state of rest to one of motion or changes its rate of motion. The magnitude of the force is equal to the product of the mass of the body and its acceleration

    • a static influence that produces an elastic strain in a body or system or bears weight: Symbol: F

  2. physics any operating influence that produces or tends to produce a change in a physical quantity: electromotive force; coercive force

    • intellectual, social, political, or moral influence or strength: the force of his argument; the forces of evil

    • a person or thing with such influence: he was a force in the land

  3. vehemence or intensity: he spoke with great force

  4. a group of persons organized for military or police functions: armed forces

  5. the force (sometimes capital) informal the police force

  6. a group of persons organized for particular duties or tasks: a workforce

  7. criminal law violence unlawfully committed or threatened

  8. philosophy logic that which an expression is normally used to achieve: See speech act, illocution, perlocution

  9. in force

    • (of a law) having legal validity or binding effect

    • in great strength or numbers

  10. join forces to combine strengths, efforts, etc

verb(tr)
  1. to compel or cause (a person, group, etc) to do something through effort, superior strength, etc; coerce

  2. to acquire, secure, or produce through effort, superior strength, etc: to force a confession

  1. to propel or drive despite resistance: to force a nail into wood

  2. to break down or open (a lock, safe, door, etc)

  3. to impose or inflict: he forced his views on them

  4. to cause (plants or farm animals) to grow or fatten artificially at an increased rate

  5. to strain or exert to the utmost: to force the voice

  6. to rape; ravish

  7. cards

    • to compel (a player) to trump in order to take a trick

    • to compel a player by the lead of a particular suit to play (a certain card)

    • (in bridge) to induce (a bid) from one's partner by bidding in a certain way

  8. force a smile to make oneself smile

  9. force down to compel an aircraft to land

  10. force the pace to adopt a high speed or rate of procedure

Origin of force

1
C13: from Old French, from Vulgar Latin fortia (unattested), from Latin fortis strong

Derived forms of force

  • forceable, adjective
  • forceless, adjective
  • forcer, noun
  • forcingly, adverb

British Dictionary definitions for force (2 of 2)

force2

/ (fɔːs) /


noun
  1. (in northern England) a waterfall

Origin of force

2
C17: from Old Norse fors

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for force

force

[ fôrs ]


  1. Any of various factors that cause a body to change its speed, direction, or shape. Force is a vector quantity, having both magnitude and direction. Contributions of force from different sources can be summed to give the net force at any given point.

  2. Any of the four natural phenomena involving the interaction between particles of matter. From the strongest to the weakest, the four forces are the strong nuclear force, the electromagnetic force, the weak nuclear force, and gravity.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for force

force

In physics, something that causes a change in the motion of an object. The modern definition of force (an object's mass multiplied by its acceleration) was given by Isaac Newton in Newton's laws of motion. The most familiar unit of force is the pound. (See mechanics.)

Notes for force

Gravity, and therefore weight, is a kind of force.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with force

force

In addition to the idioms beginning with force

  • force someone's hand
  • force to be reckoned with

also see:

  • brute force
  • driving force
  • in force
  • join forces
  • reckon with (force to be reckoned with)

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.