Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word force. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word force, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say force in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word force you have here. The definition of the word force will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition offorce, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
He was, in the full force of the words, a good man.
2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 9:45 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 29 November 2024:
After his actions were challenged by foreign governments and Parliament initially tried to put a stop to his action, Denman returned home and argued his case with enough force that, by 1848, the Royal Navy was handed active permission and encouragement to raze every last slave factory they could find to the ground, and full authority to stop any ship, of any flag, that was thought to be a slaver, with a guarantee withno censure from the government.
1999 September 28, Mike Selvey, “Crenshaw vindicated by a chain reaction”, in The Guardian:
The Europeans tried, my goodness how they tried. But on the day the US proved too strong and too inspired. They were, dammit, just better. And when Leonard's putt dropped they clearly had the force with them as well.
A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place. Applying a force tangential to the knob is essentially equivalent to applying one perpendicular to a radial line defining the lever.
Two forces acting upon the same point on an object will cancel out only if they have equal magnitude and opposite directions.
(mass noun, possibly proscribed) Force understood as something of which there can be an amount.
Heavier objects are those that are subject to more gravitational force.
(when in reference to that which it affects) Something that, over time, influences a system with which it interacts (with a connotation of underlyingness, subtlety, or indirectness).
I believe that the main long-term force that guides a society's evolution is not the economy or the leaders, but the culture.
Some skeptics have attributed changing temperatures to forces out of our control, such as axial procession.
(countable) A group organized for the goal of attacking, controling, or constraining, especially one with a set command structure (in particular, a military or police group).
1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
"A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there.."
For Lothian and Borders Police, the early-morning raid had come at the end one of biggest investigations carried out by the force, which had originally presented a dossier of evidence on the murder of Jodi Jones to the Edinburgh procurator-fiscal, William Gallagher, on 25 November last year.
Any large, organized group involved in a military engagement.
(in the singular or plural) Military personnel, collectively, including any vehicles, ships, or aircraft. More broadly, the military or police altogether.
After only a week, Japanese forces had captured Singapore from the British.
reinforcements grew the American force in the area to 9,000
Roman forces were
(usually with "the", in the singular or plural)Synonym of police force.
1880, House documents, page 64:
Q. All the time that he was on the force? A. I cannot say that; but there were men on with me when I was on the force who were very good Republicans. Q. During all this time you have been on the police force?
(countable) A magictrick in which the outcome is known to the magician beforehand, especially one involving the apparent free choice of a card by another person.
(science fiction): Outside of fiction, the force may be used as an alternative to invoking luck, destiny, or God. For example, the force was with him instead of luck was on his side, or may the force be with you instead of may God be with you.
Sense overview
Most of the main senses can be placed under the following umbrellas, all centered on the notion of influence:
The ability to exert influence; in other words, power or strength (the original sense borrowed from French).
Influence itself.
Something by which influence takes place (as in the physics senses).
Something that can or does exert influence (as in the military senses).
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
For yf ye were suche fyfty as ye be / ye were not able to make resystence ageynst this deuyl / here lyeth a duchesse deede the whiche was the fayrest of alle the world wyf to syre Howel / duc of Bretayne / he hath murthred her in forcynge her / and has slytte her vnto the nauyl
a young woman not farre from mee had headlong cast her selfe out of a high window, with intent to kill herselfe, only to avoid the ravishment of a rascally-base souldier that lay in her house, who offered to force her.
1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum xxi”, in , book XVIII, by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur, London: David Nutt,, 1889, →OCLC:
And I pray you for my sake to force yourselff there, that men may speke you worshyp.
Captain Edward Carlislefelt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze,; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.
2009 July 23, “All things to Althingi”, in The Economist:
The second problem is the economy, the shocking state of which has forced the decision to apply to the EU.
2011 March 23, Tim Webb, Fiona Harvey, The Guardian:
Housebuilders had warned that the higher costs involved would have forced them to build fewer homes and priced many homebuyers out of the market.
2024 March 6, “Network News: Southern revises Coastway service”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 12:
The hourly Southampton to London Victoria service via Horsham has been axed, as has the direct Littlehampton-Bognor Regis service, forcing passengers to change at Barnham.
(transitive) To constrain by force; to overcome the limitations or resistance of.
Shall wee force the general law of nature, which in all living creatures under heaven is seene to tremble at paine?
(transitive) To drive (something) by force, to propel (generally + prepositional phrase or adverb).
1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis., London: Jacob Tonson,, →OCLC:
It stuck so fast, so deeply buried lay / That scarce the victor forced the steel away.
The comedian's jokes weren't funny, but I forced a laugh now and then.
1982 December 4, Sharon Page, “R2N2 Conference: Revitalizing the Movement”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 20, page 3:
Janet Tobacman of Woman Organized for Reproductive Choice (WORC) in Chicago and New Jewish Agenda stated, "R2N2 needs omre discussion and action around sexuality in general," forcing a concern that had little discussion throughout the conference.
I forgot my keys in and so we had to force (open) the door.
To obtain or win by strength; to take by violence or struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm, as a fortress.
(transitive,baseball) To create an out by touching a base in advance of a runner who has no base to return to while in possession of a ball which has already touched the ground.
Jones forced the runner at second by stepping on the bag.
(whist) To compel (an adversary or partner) to trump a trick by leading a suit that he/she does not hold.
(archaic) To put in force; to cause to be executed; to make binding; to enforce.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
c.1656–1662, Blaise Pascal, “Fragment Raisons des effets n° 20 / 21”, in Pensées :
La justice sans la force est impuissante. La force sans la justice est tyrannique.
Justice without force is powerless. Force without justice is tyrannical.
1897, Henri Poincaré, “Les idées de Hertz sur la mécanique ”, in Revue générale des sciences pures et appliquées , volume 8, page 734:
— Qu'est-ce que la force ? C'est, répond Lagrange, une cause qui produit le mouvement d'un corps ou qui tend à le produire. — C'est, dira Kirchhoff, le produit de la masse par l'accélération. Mais alors, pourquoi ne pas dire que la masse est le quotient de la force par l'accélération ?
"What is force? It is," answers Lagrange, "a cause which produces the movement of a body or which tends to produce it." "It is," Kirchhoff will say, "the product of mass by acceleration." But then why not say that mass is the quotient of force by acceleration?