# force

Pronunciation: say "FORS" US /foɹs/, UK /fɔːs/

## Verb

1. To make a person or thing do something, often against their will.
   - Simple: To make someone do something they do not want to do.
   - _Economic hardship can force families to leave their homes._
   - _The general forced his troops to march through the night._
7. To bring something about through effort or power, despite inertia or resistance.
   - Simple: To make something happen even when it is hard to bring about.
   - _The striker forced an opening and scored._
   - _Negotiators worked to force a settlement before the deadline._
9. To drive or propel something by physical power, usually in a given direction.
   - Simple: To push something somewhere using power or strength.
   - _The current forced the boat against the rocks._
   - _Workers force the molten metal through narrow molds._
14. To break through, open, or take something such as a door, lock, defensive line, or fortress by physical strength.
   - Simple: To break through or open something, like a door or a line of soldiers, using strength.
   - _The regiment forced the enemy line at dawn._
   - _Burglars tried to force the back door with a crowbar while the family slept._
16. In baseball, to put out a runner who must advance by touching the base ahead of the runner while holding the ball.
   - Simple: In baseball, to get a runner out by touching the next base before the runner reaches it, when the runner must advance.
   - _The second baseman forced the lead runner to end the inning._
   - _He stepped on the bag to force the runner sprinting from first._
19. To make a plant grow, flower or crop earlier than usual or out of season by controlling its warmth, light or other conditions, as gardeners do with bulbs and rhubarb.
   - Simple: To make a plant grow or flower earlier than its normal season by changing its warmth, light or other conditions.
   - _Many gardeners force rhubarb by covering the crowns with tall clay pots in late winter._
   - _The farm has forced its rhubarb in long, candlelit sheds for generations._

## Noun

2. Military personnel taken as a whole, including their vehicles, ships, and aircraft; a nation's armed strength.
   - Simple: All the soldiers, ships, and equipment of a military, taken together.
   - _Both her parents served in the armed forces, so she grew up on bases._
   - _Naval force in the region was reduced after the treaty._
3. Something or someone that has a strong influence on people or events, whether openly or in a subtle, underlying way.
   - Simple: Something that has a strong effect on people or on how things happen.
   - _Religion remained a powerful force in the region's politics._
   - _Market trends are a force that no business can ignore._
4. An organized group of people brought together for a purpose, such as a body of troops, a security unit, or a team of workers.
   - Simple: A group of people organized to do a job together, such as soldiers, guards, or workers.
   - _The shipping company hired a private security force to protect its vessels from pirates._
   - _A small force of officers secured the perimeter._
5. Power exerted against someone's will or consent, including violence and coercion.
   - Simple: Power used against someone's wishes, often with violence.
   - _The regime maintained control through force and intimidation._
   - _The militia seized the farmland by force, driving out families who refused to leave._
6. Strength or energy of body or mind; the active power or vigor by which one exerts influence or produces an effect.
   - Simple: Strength or energy of body or mind that lets someone influence things.
   - _He delivered the argument with such force that no one objected._
   - _The full force of her personality dominated the meeting._
8. The police of a particular area, considered collectively as a single organized body.
   - Simple: The police of an area, thought of as one organized group.
   - _He served on the force for twenty years before retiring._
   - _The entire force was mobilized to manage the festival crowds._
10. Physical power or strength that pushes, pulls, or strikes something, often thought of as greater or smaller.
   - Simple: The physical strength of a push, pull, or hit, such as the force of a crash.
   - _The force of the collision crumpled the front of the car._
   - _The wave hit the pier with enough force to tear several planks loose._
11. In physics, a push, pull or twist acting in a particular direction, such as gravity or friction, that can change how a body moves; measured in newtons.
   - Simple: In science, a push or pull, like gravity or magnetism, that can make something move or change.
   - _A force of 10 newtons gives a 2-kilogram cart an acceleration of 5 meters per second squared._
   - _Engineers split the wind force on the bridge into horizontal and vertical components._
12. The state of having legal weight or being legally valid and binding.
   - Simple: The state of a rule or law being officially active and binding.
   - _The treaty remains in force until either side withdraws._
   - _The regulations came into force as soon as the minister signed them._
13. In the Star Wars universe, a metaphysical energy field that pervades all things and can be channeled by those sensitive to it.
   - Simple: In Star Wars, a mysterious energy that flows through all living things and gives Jedi their powers.
   - _Obi-Wan urged the young pilot to let the Force guide his aim._
   - _Sith and Jedi alike draw on the Force, but toward opposite ends._
17. The capacity of an utterance or one of its elements (a word, form, or tone) to convey a particular meaning or effect.
   - Simple: The power of a word or sentence to carry a certain meaning or effect.
   - _Linguists analyzed the force of the imperative in everyday requests._
   - _Intonation can change the force of an otherwise neutral sentence._

## Verb

15. To sexually violate a woman against her will; to rape. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To rape a person, or make someone have sex against their will.
18. To put into effect; to cause to be carried out or made binding, as a law or decree. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To make a rule or law take effect and be obeyed.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A conjuring technique in which the magician already knows the result, especially one that makes a spectator's card choice seem freely made.
- (noun) In actuarial science, an instantaneous rate of change relative to the amount present, stated on a yearly basis, as in force of mortality or force of interest.
- (noun) A waterfall or cascade, especially one tumbling over rocks in upland country.
- (verb) To strive hard and make every possible effort.
- (verb) In card games such as bridge or whist, to make another player use a trump by leading a suit they have none of.
- (verb) To supply a place or an army with soldiers so as to make it stronger.
- (verb) To care about something or treat it as important, usually in negative statements.
- (verb) To fill meat or other food with stuffing, or to thread it with strips of fat.

## Origin

**Meanings 2–6, 8, 10–13, 17** — From Middle English force, borrowed from Old French force, from Late Latin fortia, a noun built from the neuter plural of Latin fortis ("strong"), possibly going back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- ("to rise, high, hill").
**Meanings 1, 7, 9, 14–16, 18–19** — Latin fortia led to Late Latin *fortiāre, which became Old French forcier and then Middle English forcen.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/force (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).