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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Force \Force\, verb (used with an object) [See {Farce} to stuff.] To stuff; to lard; to farce. [R.]
Wit larded with malice, and malice forced with wit. --Shak.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Force \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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Force \Force\, noun [F. force, LL. forcia, fortia, fr. L. fortis strong. See {Fort}, noun]
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 term.
He 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. --Shak.
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? --Shak.
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.
{Animal force} (Physiol.), muscular force or energy.
{Catabiotic force} [Gr. ? down (intens.) + ? life.] (Biol.), the influence exerted by living structures on adjoining cells, by which the latter are developed in harmony with the primary structures.
{Centrifugal force}, {Centripetal force}, {Coercive force}, etc. See under {Centrifugal}, {Centripetal}, etc.
{Composition of forces}, {Correlation of forces}, etc. See under {Composition}, {Correlation}, etc.
{Force and arms} [trans. of L. vi et armis] (Law), an expression in old indictments, signifying violence.
{In force}, or {Of force}, of unimpaired efficacy; valid; of full virtue; not suspended or reversed. ''A testament is of force after men are dead.'' --Heb. ix. 17.
{Metabolic force} (Physiol.), the influence which causes and controls the metabolism of the body.
{No force}, no matter of urgency or consequence; no account; hence, to do no force, to make no account of; not to heed. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
{Of force}, of necessity; unavoidably; imperatively. ''Good reasons must, of force, give place to better.'' --Shak.
{Plastic force} (Physiol.), the force which presumably acts in the growth and repair of the tissues.
{Vital force} (Physiol.), that force or power which is inherent in organization; that form of energy which is the cause of the vital phenomena of the body, as distinguished from the physical forces generally known.
Syn: Strength; vigor; might; energy; stress; vehemence; violence; compulsion; coaction; constraint; coercion.
Usage: {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 force to mollify This 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 Strength added from above, new hope to spring Out of despair. --Milton.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Force \Force\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Forced}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Forcing}.] [OF. forcier, F. forcer, fr. LL. forciare, fortiare. See {Force}, noun]
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 labor.
2. To compel, as by strength of evidence; as, to force conviction on the mind.
3. 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. --Shak.
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 lock.
5. 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 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 re["e]nforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to man; to garrison. [Obs.] --Shak.
10. To allow the force of; to value; to care for. [Obs.]
For me, I force not argument a straw. --Shak.
Syn: To compel; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce; drive; press; impel.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Force \Force\, verb (used without an object) [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. --Shak.
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
force
noun
1: a unit that is part of some military service; "he sent Caesar a force of six thousand men" [syn: {military unit}, {military force}, {military group}]
2: one possessing or exercising power or influence or authority; "the mysterious presence of an evil power"; "may the force be with you"; "the forces of evil" [syn: {power}]
3: (physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity; "force equals mass times acceleration"
4: group of people willing to obey orders; "a public force is necessary to give security to the rights of citizens" [syn: {personnel}]
5: a powerful effect or influence; "the force of his eloquence easily persuaded them"
6: an act of aggression (as one against a person who resists); "he may accomplish by craft in the long run what he cannot do by force and violence in the short one" [syn: {violence}]
7: physical energy or intensity; "he hit with all the force he could muster"; "it was destroyed by the strength of the gale"; "a government has not the vitality and forcefulness of a living man" [syn: {forcefulness}, {strength}]
8: a group of people having the power of effective action; "he joined forces with a band of adventurers"
9: (of a law) having legal validity; "the law is still in effect" [syn: {effect}]
verb
1: to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :"She forced him to take a job in the city"; "He squeezed her for information" [syn: {coerce}, {hale}, {squeeze}, {pressure}]
2: urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate [syn: {impel}]
3: move with force, "He pushed the table into a corner" [syn: {push}] [ant: {pull}]
4: impose or thrust urgently, importunately, or inexorably; "She forced her diet fads on him" [syn: {thrust}]
5: squeeze like a wedge into a tight space; "I squeezed myself into the corner" [syn: {wedge}, {squeeze}]
6: force into or from an action or state, either physically or metaphorically; "She rammed her mind into focus"; "He drives me mad" [syn: {drive}, {ram}]
7: do forcibly; exert force; "Don't force it!"
8: cause to move along the ground by pulling; "draw a wagon"; "pull a sled" [syn: {pull}, {draw}] [ant: {push}]
9: take by force; "Storm the fort" [syn: {storm}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
538 Moby Thesaurus words for "force": Niagara, abuse, actuate, acuteness, administer, adventuresomeness, adventurousness, affective meaning, aggression, aggressiveness, ambitiousness, amount, amperage, amplitude, animality, animate, apply, arm, armed forces, armipotence, army, ascendancy, assault, atrocity, authoritativeness, authority, backlash, backset, backwash, barbarity, bear, bear upon, bearing, beef, bestow, betray, big battalions, bind, binding, bite, bitingness, black power, bloodlust, boost, break, brutality, brute force, buck, bulk, bull, bulldoze, bump, bump against, bunt, butt, butt against, carat, cascade, cataract, cause, cause to, centigram, charge, charisma, charm, chute, clout, coerce, coercion, cogence, cogency, coloring, command, compel, compulsion, concuss, connotation, consequence, constrain, constraint, control, crack, cram, cram in, credit, crew, crowd, crowd in, cultivate, culture, current, cut, cuttingness, debauch, decagram, deceive, decigram, decisiveness, defile, deflorate, deflower, delve, demand, demonic energy, denotation, despoil, destructiveness, dig, dint, dominance, domination, dose, dose with, drag, dragoon, dram, dram avoirdupois, dress, drift, drive, drive in, duress, dynamism, dyne, effect, effective, effectiveness, effectuality, efficacy, effort, elbow, eminence, employees, enchantment, endurance, energize, energy, enforce, enforce upon, enjoin, enterprise, enterprisingness, ergal, essence, esteem, exact, extension, extent, extort, extract, extremity, fall, fallow, falls, favor, ferociousness, fertilize, fierceness, flower power, force in, force majeure, force upon, forcefulness, fortitude, foster, full blast, full force, furiousness, galvanize, gang, get-up-and-get, get-up-and-go, getup, gist, give, go, go-ahead, go-getting, go-to-itiveness, goad, good feeling, grain, gram, grammatical meaning, gumption, guts, gutsiness, hardiness, harrow, harshness, have, headway, heartiness, help, hired help, hoe, hold, hundredweight, hurtle, hustle, idea, impact, impel, impetuosity, impetus, implication, import, importance, impose, impress, impression, impressiveness, imprint, in effect, in force, in operation, incidental power, incisiveness, inclemency, influence, influentiality, inhumanity, initiative, insinuation, intension, intensity, intestinal fortitude, intimidate, jab, jam, jam in, jog, joggle, jolt, jostle, justness, kilo, kilogram, kinetic energy, knock in, lay on, lead astray, leadership, leverage, lexical meaning, linn, list, literal meaning, lustihood, lustiness, magnetism, magnitude, main force, main strength, make, malignity, mana, mark, mass, mastery, matter, meaning, measure, measurement, megaton, men, mercilessness, mete out to, might, might and main, mightiness, military, milligram, mindlessness, mislead, mole, moment, momentum, mordancy, motivate, move, move to action, moxie, mulch, murderousness, muscle, muscle power, naked force, nappe, nervosity, nervousness, nudge, numbers, oblige, obstinacy, occasion, operative, order, ounce, ounce avoirdupois, ounce troy, outrage, overtone, pack in, pains, pennyweight, persistence, personality, personnel, persuasion, pertinence, physical force, pile drive, pith, pitilessness, pizzazz, plow, plunge in, poignancy, point, poke, poke in, poop, potence, potency, potential energy, potentiality, pound, pound avoirdupois, pound in, pound troy, poundal, power, power pack, power structure, power struggle, powerfulness, practical consequence, predominance, preponderance, prepotency, prescribe for, press, press in, pressure, prestige, print, prise, prize, prod, productiveness, productivity, promote, propel, prune, pry, puissance, pull, punch, purchase, purport, push, push in, pushfulness, pushiness, pushingness, put on, put upon, quantity, quantum, rake, ram, ram down, ram in, range of meaning, rape, rattle, ravage, ravish, reaction, real meaning, recoil, reference, referent, reflex, reign, relation, relevance, repercussion, repute, require, response, restrain, retinue, rigor, robustness, roughness, ruggedness, ruin, rule, rule of might, run, run against, run in, sandbag, sault, savagery, say, scope, scruple, seduce, semantic cluster, semantic field, sense, servantry, set in motion, severity, shake, sharpness, shotgun, shoulder, shove, significance, signification, significatum, signifie, sinew, sinewiness, slug, soil, soldiers, solidity, soundness, spade, span of meaning, spark, speed, spirit, spoil, spout, spunk, squeeze in, staff, stalwartness, stamina, staying power, steam, steamroller, sticking power, stimulate, stone, stoutness, strain, strength, strength of will, strenuousness, stress, strong arm, strong language, structural meaning, stuff in, sturdiness, suasion, substance, substantiality, subtle influence, suggestion, sully, sum, sum and substance, superiority, superpower, supremacy, sway, symbolic meaning, tamp, tamp in, tenor, tension, terrorism, the help, thin, thin out, thrust, thrust in, tie, till, till the soil, ton, totality of associations, toughness, transferred meaning, trenchancy, troops, trouble, tyranny, ultima ratio, unadorned meaning, undertone, units of weight, up-and-comingness, upper hand, use force upon, valid, validity, value, vandalism, vehemence, velocity, venom, venturesomeness, venturousness, viciousness, vigor, vigorousness, vim, violate, violence, virility, virtue, virulence, visit, vitality, waterfall, watershoot, wattage, wedge in, weed, weed out, weight, whip hand, whole, work, wreak, wreck, wrench, wrest, wring
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
Force A {dBASE} dialect for {MS-DOS}.
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
FORCE, noun
"Force is but might," the teacher said -- "That definition's just." The boy said naught but through instead, Remembering his pounded head: "Force is not might but must!"
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