force
n 1: a powerful effect or influence: "the force of his eloquence
easily persuaded them"
2: the physical influence that produces a change in a physical
quantity; "force equals mass times acceleration"
3: 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}]
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 unit that is part of some military service; "he sent
Caesar a force of six thousand men" [syn: {military unit},
{military force}]
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: 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}]
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}]
v 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" [syn: {coerce}, {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"; "She
pushed her chin out" [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: physical or metaphorical, as in "She rammed her mind into
focus" [syn: {run}, {drive}, {ram}]
7: cause to move along the ground by pulling; "draw a wagon";
"pull a sled" [syn: {pull}, {draw}] [ant: {push}]
8: do forcibly; exert force; "Don't force it!"
9: take by force; "Storm the fort" [syn: {storm}]