Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Force
Force
,Verb.
T.
[See
Farce
to stuff.] To stuff; to lard; to farce.
[R.]
Wit larded with malice, and malice
forced
with wit. Shakespeare
Force
,Noun.
[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.
1.
Capacity of exercising an influence or producing an effect; strength or energy of body or mind; active power; vigor; might; often, an unusual degree of strength or energy; 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 termHe was, in the full
force
of the words, a good man. Macaulay.
2.
Power exerted against will or consent; compulsory power; violence; coercion;
as, by
. force
of arms; to take by force
Which now they hold by
force
, and not by right. Shakespeare
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; the armed forces
Is Lucius general of the
forces
? Shakespeare
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
.
Syn. – Strength; vigor; might; energy; stress; vehemence; violence; compulsion; coaction; constraint; coercion.
– 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
This flinty man.
force
to mollifyThis 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
Out of despair.
Had ended now their orisons, and found
Strength
added from above, new hope to springOut of despair.
Milton.
Force
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Forced
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Forcing
.] 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 labor2.
To compel, as by strength of evidence;
as, to
. force
conviction on the mind3.
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. Shakespeare
4.
To obtain, overcome, or win by strength; to take by violence or struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm, as a fortress;
as, to
. force
the castle; to force
a lock5.
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
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 conceit 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 reënforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to man; to garrison.
[Obs.]
Shak.
10.
To allow the force of; to value; to care for.
[Obs.]
Syn. – To compel; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce; drive; press; impel.
Force
,Verb.
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. Shakespeare
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Force
FORCE
,Noun.
1.
Strength; active power; vigor; might; energy that may be exerted; that physical property in a body which may produce action or motion in another body, or may counteract such motion. By the force of the muscles we raise a weight, or resist an assault.2.
Momentum; the quantity of power produced by motion or the action of one body on another; as the force of a cannon ball.3.
That which causes an operation or moral effect; strength; energy; as the force of the mind, will or understanding.4.
Violence; power exerted against will or consent; compulsory power. Let conquerors consider that force alone can keep what force as obtained.5.
Strength; moral power to convince the mind. There is great force in an argument.6.
Virtue; efficacy. No presumption or hypothesis can be of force enough to overthrow constant experience.7.
Validity; power to bind or hold. If the conditions of a covenant are not fulfilled, the contract is of no force. A testament is of force after the testator is dead. Heb. 9:17.8.
Strength or power for war; armament; troops; an army or navy; as a military or naval force: sometimes in the plural; as military forces.9.
Destiny; necessity; compulsion; any extraneous power to which men are subject; as the force of fate or of divine decrees.10.
Internal power; as the force of habit.11.
In law, any unlawful violence to person or property. This is simple, when no other crime attends it, as the entering into another's possession, without committing any other unlawful act. It is compound, when some other violence or unlawful act is committed. The law also implies force, as when a person enters a house or inclosure lawfully, but afterwards does an unlawful act. In this case, the law supposes the first entrance to be for that purpose, and therefore by force.Physical force, is the force of material bodies.
Moral force, is the power of acting on the reason in judging and determining.
Mechanical force, is the power that belongs to bodies at rest or in motion. The pressure or tension of bodies at rest is called a mechanical force, and so is the power of a body in motion. There is also the force of gravity or attraction, centrifugal and centripetal forces, expansive force, &c.
FORCE
,Verb.
T.
1.
To compel; to constrain to do or to forbear, by the exertion of a power not resistible. Men are forced to submit to conquerors. Masters force their slaves to labor.2.
To overpower by strength.I should have forced thee soon with other arms.
3.
To impel; to press; to drive; to draw or push by main strength; a sense of very extensive use; as, to force along a wagon or a ship; to force away a man's arms; water forces its way through a narrow channel; a man may be forced out of his possessions.4.
To enforce; to urge; to press.Forcing my strength, and gathering to the shore.
5.
To compel by strength of evidence; as, to force conviction on the mind; to force one to acknowledge the truth of a proposition.6.
To storm; to assault and take by violence; as, to force a town or fort.7.
To ravish; to violate by force, as a female.8.
To overstrain; to distort; as a forced conceit.9.
To cause to produce ripe fruit prematurely, as a tree; or to cause to ripen prematurely, as fruit.10.
To man; to strengthen by soldiers; to garrison. Obs.To force from, to wrest from; to extort.
To force out, to drive out; to compel to issue out or to leave; also, to extort.
To force wine, is to fine it by a short process, or in a short time.
To force plants, is to urge the growth of plants by artificial heat.
To force meat, is to stuff it.
FORCE
,Verb.
I.
1.
To lay stress on. Obs.2.
To strive. Obs.3.
To use violence.