forcenoun
uk/fɔːs/us/fɔːrs/force noun (PHYSICAL)
B2 [ U ] physical, especially violent, strength, or power:
in large numbers:
[ C or U ] specialized in scientific use, (a measure of) the influence that changes movement:
C2 to work with someone else in order to achieve something that you both want
More examples
- In the end she used brute force to push him out.
- The rocket has to work against the force of gravity.
- The police were out in force at the football match.
- The acceleration of a body equals the force exerted on it divided by its mass.
- The force of the waves was eroding the cliff face.
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Physics: energy, force & power
- a head of steam idiom
- barometric pressure
- binding energy
- bioenergy
- chemical bond
- constructive interference
- distance multiplier
- drag
- dynamics
- gravitation
- jet propulsion
- joule
- potential energy
- static equilibrium
- stress fracture
- strong force
- the sound barrier
- vector
- waveform
- weak force
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force noun (INFLUENCE)
C2 [ C or U ] (a person or thing with a lot of) influence and energy:
C2 If an organization or a person is described as a force to be reckoned with, it means that they are powerful and have a lot of influence:
If you do something out of force of habit, you do it without thinking because you have done it so many times before.
More examples
- Ambition can sometimes be a force for good.
- Since the government limited their powers, the unions are no longer a force to be reckoned with.
- In Britain and the USA in the 1970s, the underground was a powerful subversive force.
- The club used to be a significant force in European football.
- It seems as though forces of destruction are increasingly at work throughout society.
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People in charge of or controlling other people
- administrator
- authority
- bureaucrat
- chairman
- chairperson
- giant
- Goliath
- guiding spirit
- headman
- helicopter parent
- hierarchy
- leader
- marshal
- on high idiom
- operator
- overlord
- paymaster
- pillar
- powerhouse
- your lord and master idiom
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force noun (GROUP)
B2 [ C ] a group of people organized and trained, especially for a particular purpose:
the military organizations for air, land, and sea
More examples
- In their efforts to reduce crime the government expanded the police force.
- Security forces halted the demonstrators by blocking the road.
- The reduction in armed forces will be phased over the next ten years.
- Government troops swept aside the rebel forces.
- 60 percent of the work force voted for strike action.
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Parts of armies & groups of servicemen
- artillery
- bomb squad
- command
- commissariat
- corps
- divisional
- general staff
- guard of honour
- infantry
- military policeman
- regiment
- reinforcement
- reserve
- squad
- ta
- task force
- the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- the Marine Corps
- the military police
- the Territorial Army
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force noun (IN OPERATION)
More examples
- Many of these problems may simply fade into irrelevance when the new rules come into force.
- The new law comes into force at the end of the month.
- Speed restrictions are in force along this stretch of the railway line.
- The ban on handguns came into force last year.
- A curfew has been in force since the riots in August.
C2 (of laws, rules, or systems) existing and being used:
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Existing and being
- account for sth
- alive
- am
- are
- be
- come
- existent
- extant
- go
- go back
- have legs idiom
- hood
- languish
- lie
- lie in sth
- live
- lurk
- run
- stalk
- was
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Idiom(s)
forceverb [ T ]
uk/fɔːs/us/fɔːrs/force verb [ T ] (GIVE NO CHOICE)
B2 to make something happen or make someone do something difficult, unpleasant, or unusual, especially by threatening or not offering the possibility of choice:
specialized biology, food & drink If plants or vegetables are forced, they are made to grow faster by artificially controlling growing conditions such as the amount of heat and light:
to manage, with difficulty, to laugh or smile:
to take action to make certain that an urgent problem or matter is dealt with now:
More examples
- The new tax would force companies to adopt energy-saving measures.
- Hospitals are being forced to close departments because of lack of money.
- The recession is forcing the company to rationalize.
- Doctors are being forced to work impossibly long hours.
- It's only a matter of time before he's forced to resign.
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Causing somebody to act
- a kick up the arse/backside idiom
- arm-twisting
- bludgeon
- bounce
- bounce sb into sth
- bulldoze
- force sb's hand idiom
- forcible
- hold sb to ransom idiom
- impel
- impose
- railroad
- reduce sb to sth
- screw
- shanghai
- slap
- slap sth on/onto (sth/sb)
- squeeze
- squeeze sth out of sb
- trap
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force verb [ T ] (USE PHYSICAL POWER)
C2 to use physical strength or effort to make something move or open:
to break a lock, door, window, etc. in order to allow someone to get in:
More examples
- The crowd managed to force its way in by sheer weight of numbers.
- The thieves forced one of the shop windows open with a crowbar.
- Helmeted, baton-wielding police forced back the crowd.
- Pieces of stone can be split off by forcing wedges between the layers.
- The water pressure forces the piston into the chamber.
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Pushing and shoving
- barge
- bring
- bring sb down
- bundle
- dig
- frogmarch
- heave
- jostle
- nudge
- propel
- push
- push off
- push sb/sth over
- put sth out 1
- ram
- repel
- scrum
- shoulder
- shove
- wheel
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