physical power or strength possessed by a living being: He used all his force in opening the window.
strength or power exerted upon an object; physical coercion; violence: to use force to open the window; to use force on a person.
strength; energy; power; intensity: a personality of great force.
power to influence, affect, or control; efficacious power: the force of circumstances; a force for law and order.
Law. unlawful violence threatened or committed against persons or property.
persuasive power; power to convince: They felt the force of his arguments.
mental or moral strength: force of character.
might, as of a ruler or realm; strength for war.
Often forces.the military or fighting strength, especially of a nation.
any body of persons combined for joint action: a sales force.
intensity or strength of effect: the force of her acting.
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
any influence or agency analogous to physical force: social forces.
binding power, as of a contract.
Baseball. force play.
value; significance; meaning.
Billiards. a stroke in which the cue ball is forcibly struck 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.
verb (used with object),forced,forc·ing.
to compel, constrain, or oblige (oneself or someone) to do something: to force a suspect to confess.
to drive or propel against resistance: He forced his way through the crowd. They forced air into his lungs.
to bring about or effect by force.
to bring about of necessity or as a necessary result: to force a smile.
to put or impose (something or someone) forcibly on or upon a person: to force one's opinions on others.
to compel by force; overcome the resistance of: to force acceptance of something.
to obtain or draw forth by or as if by force; extort: to force a confession.
to enter or take by force; overpower: They forced the town after a long siege.
to break open (a door, lock, etc.).
to cause (plants, fruits, etc.) to grow or mature at an increased rate by artificial means.
to press, urge, or exert (an animal, person, etc.) to violent effort or to the utmost.
to use force upon.
to rape.
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).
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.
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.
Archaic. to give force to; strengthen; reinforce.
verb (used without object),forced,forc·ing.
to make one's way by force.
VIDEO FOR FORCE
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Idioms for force
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
First recorded in 1250–1300; (noun) Middle English, from Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin fortia, derivative of Latin fortis “strong”; (verb) Middle English forcen, from Anglo-French, Old French forcer, derivative of the noun
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.
Troye said she organized and participated in every meeting of the coronavirus task force, which her former boss chairs, between February and July.
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Climate change has also been a force behind the latest wave of destructive wildfires on the West Coast.
What wildfires in Brazil, Siberia, and the US West have in common|Lili Pike|September 17, 2020|Vox
Perhaps the presence of EMS workers could have saved Taylor’s life, as her attorneys say, but this would not have changed the fact that she was already the victim of excessive force the moment officers stormed in and started shooting.
The policing reforms in the Breonna Taylor settlement, explained|Fabiola Cineas|September 17, 2020|Vox
Altogether, this means that water is hitting the ground with more force and the soil is unable to suck it up.
California wildfires may give way to massive mudslides|Ula Chrobak|September 17, 2020|Popular Science
The president recently visited Wisconsin to highlight his support for law enforcement and to reinforce his message that he is best suited to tamp down violence — with force, if necessary.
Post-ABC Wisconsin poll shows Biden holding narrow edge over Trump|Dan Balz, Emily Guskin|September 16, 2020|Washington Post
Yet for a vivid decade or so, sleaze was, somewhat paradoxically, a force for literacy and empowerment.
How Pulp Fiction Saved Literature|Wendy Smith|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Qasem Suleimani was appointed as commander of the force in 1997.
What an Iranian Funeral Tells Us About the Wars in Iraq|IranWire|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Where the force generating those threats is a widespread, self-sustaining, and virulent social movement?
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide Journalism|Arthur Chu|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
President Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division to force Faubus to admit the students to Central High School.
The ‘No Child’ Rewrite Threatens Your Kids’ Future|Jonah Edelman|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Luke Skywalker is an evil robot who has fallen to the dark side of the force.
Juiciest ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Rumors (and Some Debunked Ones)|Rich Goldstein|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
They govern in the Asiatic way—by fraud if possible—if not, by force.
Secret History of the English Occupation of Egypt|Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
He thought that no objection had been offered of any force to prevent the commitment of the memorial.
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. I (of 16)|Thomas Hart Benton
The non-importation act being still in force, these goods were seized as forfeited to the Government.
The Second War with England, Vol. 1 of 2|J. T. Headley.
As the day wore on reinforcements of infantry came up from the force which had been left to guard the camp.
The Great Boer War|Arthur Conan Doyle
But here there would be also an expenditure of force on behalf of its own sex.
Schenk's Theory: The Determination of Sex|Samuel Leopold Schenk
British Dictionary definitions for force (1 of 2)
force1
/ (fɔːs) /
noun
strength or energy; might; powerthe force of the blow; a gale of great force
exertion or the use of exertion against a person or thing that resists; coercion
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 weightSymbol: F
physicsany operating influence that produces or tends to produce a change in a physical quantityelectromotive force; coercive force
intellectual, social, political, or moral influence or strengththe force of his argument; the forces of evil
a person or thing with such influencehe was a force in the land
vehemence or intensityhe spoke with great force
a group of persons organized for military or police functionsarmed forces
the force(sometimes capital)informalthe police force
a group of persons organized for particular duties or tasksa workforce
criminal lawviolence unlawfully committed or threatened
philosophylogicthat which an expression is normally used to achieveSee speech act, illocution, perlocution
in force
(of a law) having legal validity or binding effect
in great strength or numbers
join forcesto combine strengths, efforts, etc
verb(tr)
to compel or cause (a person, group, etc) to do something through effort, superior strength, etc; coerce
to acquire, secure, or produce through effort, superior strength, etcto force a confession
to propel or drive despite resistanceto force a nail into wood
to break down or open (a lock, safe, door, etc)
to impose or inflicthe forced his views on them
to cause (plants or farm animals) to grow or fatten artificially at an increased rate
to strain or exert to the utmostto force the voice
to rape; ravish
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
force a smileto make oneself smile
force downto compel an aircraft to land
force the paceto adopt a high speed or rate of procedure
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.
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.
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.