Force Definition and Meaning
By Fiza Rafique & Urooj Arif — Updated on March 5, 2024
Force is an influence that causes an object to change its speed, direction, or shape. e.g., Gravity is a natural force that pulls objects towards Earth.
Table of Contents
Force Definitions
Law Enforcement: Force refers to the use of physical strength or power by police or military.
The police used force to manage the crowd.
Compulsion: Force can mean compelling someone to do something against their will.
She felt she was forced into agreeing with the decision.
Strength: Force also denotes physical strength or energy.
The force of the athlete's throw won the competition.
Effort: Force can refer to effort exerted towards a task or goal.
They put all their force into finishing the project on time.
Mathematics: In mathematics, force is used to describe the magnitude of an action on objects.
Calculating the force of impact helps in designing safer cars.
Physics: In physics, force is a vector quantity that causes an object to accelerate.
He applied force to the door to open it against the wind.
Influence: In a broader sense, force can refer to a strong influence on actions or decisions.
His personality was a force in convincing the team.
Natural Phenomenon: Force can describe natural phenomena like wind or gravity.
The force of the hurricane destroyed homes.
Legal: Force in a legal context can mean the effect or validity of a law.
The new law came into force at the beginning of the year.
Moral or Intellectual Power: Force can describe the power of ideas or moral principles.
The force of her argument was undeniable.
The capacity to do work or cause physical change; energy, strength, or active power
The force of an explosion.
Power made operative against resistance; exertion
Use force in driving a nail.
The use of physical power or violence to compel or restrain
A confession obtained by force.
Intellectual power or vigor, especially as conveyed in writing or speech.
Moral strength.
A capacity for affecting the mind or behavior; efficacy
The force of logical argumentation.
One that possesses such capacity
The forces of evil.
A body of persons or other resources organized or available for a certain purpose
A large labor force.
A person or group capable of influential action
A retired senator who is still a force in national politics.
Military strength.
A unit of a nation's military personnel, especially one deployed into combat
Our armed forces have at last engaged the enemy.
A vector quantity indicating the strength and direction of the capacity to accelerate a body. Newton's second law of motion states that a free body accelerates in the direction of the net force and that its acceleration is directly proportional to the force and inversely proportional to its mass.
See fundamental force.
(Baseball) A force play.
To compel through pressure or necessity
I forced myself to practice daily. He was forced to take a second job.
To gain by the use of force or coercion
Force a confession.
To move or effect against resistance or inertia
Forced my foot into the shoe.
To inflict or impose relentlessly
He forced his ideas upon the group.
To put undue strain on
She forced her voice despite being hoarse.
To increase or accelerate (a pace, for example) to the maximum.
To produce with effort and against one's will
Force a laugh in spite of pain.
To use (language) with obvious lack of ease and naturalness.
To move, open, or clear by force
Forced our way through the crowd.
To break down or open by force
Force a lock.
To rape.
To induce change in (a complex system) by changing one of its parameters
Greenhouse gases that force the earth's climate.
(Botany) To cause to grow or mature by artificially accelerating normal processes.
To put (a runner) out on a force play.
To allow (a run) to be scored by walking a batter when the bases are loaded.
(Games) To cause an opponent to play (a particular card).
Strength or energy of body or mind; active power; vigour; might; capacity of exercising an influence or producing an effect.
The force of an appeal, an argument, or a contract
Power exerted against will or consent; compulsory power; violence; coercion.
(countable) Anything that is able to make a substantial change in a person or thing.
A physical quantity that denotes ability to push, pull, twist or accelerate a body and which has a direction and is measured in a unit dimensioned in mass × distance/time² (ML/T²): SI: newton (N); CGS: dyne (dyn)
Something or anything that has the power to produce a physical effect upon something else, such as causing it to move or change shape.
(countable) A group that aims to attack, control, or constrain.
Reinforcemented increased the American force in the area to 9,000
Police force
(uncountable) The ability to attack, control, or constrain.
Show of force
(countable) A magic trick in which the outcome is known to the magician beforehand, especially one involving the apparent free choice of a card by another person.
(legal) Legal validity.
The law will come into force in January.
(legal) Either unlawful violence, as in a "forced entry", or lawful compulsion.
Ability of an utterance or its element (word, form, prosody, ...) to effect a given meaning.
|often|capitalized}}Star Wars A metaphysical and ubiquitous power from the fictional Star Wars universe created by George Lucas. See usage note.
Synonym of police force
A waterfall or cascade.
(transitive) To violate (a woman); to rape.
To exert oneself, to do one's utmost.
(transitive) To compel (someone or something) to do something.
(transitive) To constrain by force; to overcome the limitations or resistance of.
(transitive) To drive (something) by force, to propel (generally + prepositional phrase or adverb).
(transitive) To cause to occur (despite inertia, resistance etc.); to produce through force.
The comedian's jokes weren't funny, but I forced a laugh now and then.
(transitive) To forcibly open (a door, lock etc.).
To force a lock.
To obtain or win by strength; to take by violence or struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm, as a fortress.
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.
(archaic) To provide with forces; to reinforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to man; to garrison.
(obsolete) To allow the force of; to value; to care for.
To stuff; to lard; to farce.
To stuff; to lard; to farce.
Wit larded with malice, and malice forced with wit.
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.
To compel, as by strength of evidence; as, to force conviction on the mind.
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.
I should have forced thee soon wish other arms.
To force a spotless virgin's chastity.
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.
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 layThat scarce the victor forced the steel away.
To force the tyrant from his seat by war.
Ethelbert ordered that none should be forced into religion.
To put in force; to cause to be executed; to make binding; to enforce.
What can the church force more?
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.
To compel (an adversary or partner) to trump a trick by leading a suit of which he has none.
To provide with forces; to reënforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to man; to garrison.
To allow the force of; to value; to care for.
For me, I force not argument a straw.
To use violence; to make violent effort; to strive; to endeavor.
Forcing with gifts to win his wanton heart.
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.
I force not of such fooleries.
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.
A waterfall; a cascade.
To see the falls for force of the river Kent.
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.
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.
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?
Strength or power exercised without law, or contrary to law, upon persons or things; violence.
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.
Thy tears are of no force to mollifyThis flinty man.
More huge in strength than wise in works he was.
Adam and first matron EveHad ended now their orisons, and foundStrength added from above, new hope to springOut of despair.
A unit that is part of some military service;
He sent Caesar a force of six thousand men
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
(physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity;
Force equals mass times acceleration
Group of people willing to obey orders;
A public force is necessary to give security to the rights of citizens
A powerful effect or influence;
The force of his eloquence easily persuaded them
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
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
A group of people having the power of effective action;
He joined forces with a band of adventurers
(of a law) having legal validity;
The law is still in effect
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
Urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate
Move with force,
He pushed the table into a corner
Impose or thrust urgently, importunately, or inexorably;
She forced her diet fads on him
Squeeze like a wedge into a tight space;
I squeezed myself into the corner
Force into or from an action or state, either physically or metaphorically;
She rammed her mind into focus
He drives me mad
Do forcibly; exert force;
Don't force it!
Cause to move along the ground by pulling;
Draw a wagon
Pull a sled
Take by force;
Storm the fort
Force Snonyms
Pressure
The continuous physical force exerted on or against an object by something in contact with it.
The pressure from the water caused the pipe to burst.
Drive
An organized effort by a number of people to achieve a purpose.
The fundraising drive was a huge success.
Compulsion
The action or state of forcing or being forced to do something; constraint.
He felt a compulsion to confess his mistake.
Strength
The quality or state of being physically strong.
He demonstrated his strength by lifting the heavy weights.
Energy
The strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.
After a good night's sleep, she was full of energy.
Might
Great and impressive power or strength, especially of a nation, organization, or natural force.
The might of the storm left the townspeople in awe.
Vigor
Physical strength and good health.
He tackled the project with vigor and determination.
Influence
The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.
Her parents had a strong influence on her decision.
Power
The ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way.
The engine's power was impressive, making the car very fast.
Coercion
The practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.
They obtained the information through coercion.
Force Idioms & Phrases
Force to be reckoned with
Someone or something that is powerful and has a lot of influence.
With her rapid progress in the tech industry, she's quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Force the issue
To compel the decision or outcome on a matter before others are ready to act.
He forced the issue by demanding an immediate vote, leaving no room for further discussion.
Force of nature
Someone with a lot of energy or power, or a natural phenomenon that is powerful and uncontrollable.
The hurricane was a devastating force of nature, leaving destruction in its wake.
Full force
With all possible power or intensity.
The storm hit the coast with full force, causing extensive damage.
Use force
To apply physical power or coercion.
The police had to use force to restrain the suspect.
Join forces
To come together to combine efforts or resources.
The two companies joined forces to create a more powerful gaming console.
Force of habit
Doing something automatically without thinking, because it's become a habit.
He still drives by his old house out of force of habit, even though he moved away years ago.
Force one's hand
To compel someone to act or make a decision prematurely.
The leak of the confidential report forced the CEO's hand to address the issue publicly.
In force
Present in large numbers or amounts.
The fans arrived in force to support their team at the championship game.
Air force
The branch of a nation's armed services that conducts military operations in the air.
He served twenty years in the air force, retiring as a colonel.
Show of force
A demonstration of power or strength, especially by the military, to intimidate or deter an adversary.
The parade was a show of force, with tanks and troops displaying the country's military might.
Vital force
The force that gives something its life or energy.
Creativity is often seen as the vital force in art and innovation.
Counterforce
A force or influence that opposes another.
The peaceful protests acted as a counterforce to the government's harsh policies.
Force upon
To impose something on someone without their willingness.
He felt his parents' expectations were forced upon him, leaving no room for his own dreams.
Force out
To make someone leave a place or position, often using pressure or coercion.
The scandal forced the mayor out of office before his term was completed.
By force of
Because of; due to the power or influence of something.
By force of will, she overcame her injury to win the marathon.
Force-feed
To compel someone to eat or accept something.
The activists were force-fed during their hunger strike in prison.
Driving force
The main factor that causes something to happen.
Innovation is the driving force behind the company's success.
Force majeure
A superior or irresistible power; an unexpected and disruptive event that may operate as an excuse for a breach of contract.
The construction delays were attributed to force majeure due to the unexpected earthquake.
Task force
A temporary group of people formed to carry out a specific mission or project.
A task force was assembled to tackle the city's homelessness crisis.
Force Example Sentences
The gravitational force keeps our feet firmly on the ground.
He used too much force when opening the jar, and it shattered.
The force of the wind knocked over the garden furniture.
It took a lot of force to lift the heavy box.
The force of the river current can be dangerous to swimmers.
She joined the air force to serve her country.
They felt the force of the law when they were fined.
The force behind his speech moved the audience to action.
The earthquake's force caused widespread damage in the city.
Magnetic force can either attract or repel objects.
The force applied in a game of tug of war is immense.
The superhero used his force for good, protecting the city from villains.
With the force of her personality, she led the team to success.
The force of his love was strong enough to overcome any obstacle.
The force of the argument convinced everyone in the room.
Common Curiosities
How many syllables are in force?
There is one syllable in force.
Why is it called force?
It is called force because it refers to strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement, derived from Latin "fortia" meaning strength.
What is a stressed syllable in force?
The entire word force is stressed, as it contains only one syllable.
What is the verb form of force?
The verb form is "force," as in "to force someone to do something."
How do we divide force into syllables?
Since force is only one syllable, it is not divided.
What is the pronunciation of force?
The pronunciation of force is /fɔːrs/ (or /fɔrs/ in American English).
What is the second form of force?
The second form (simple past) is "forced."
What is the first form of force?
The first (base) form is "force."
How is force used in a sentence?
"The police used force to restrain the suspect."
What is another term for force?
Another term for force could be "power" or "strength."
What is the plural form of force?
The plural form is "forces."
Is force a noun or adjective?
Force is primarily a noun and a verb, not an adjective.
Is force an adverb?
No, force is not an adverb.
Is force a negative or positive word?
Force is neutral; its connotation depends on the context in which it is used.
Is force a countable noun?
Force can be both countable and uncountable depending on the context. For example, "forces" as in military forces (countable) vs. "force" as in the concept of physical power (uncountable).
Is force a collective noun?
Yes, when referring to a group, such as "armed forces," it can function as a collective noun.
Is the force term a metaphor?
Force can be used metaphorically to describe influence or power in non-physical contexts.
Is the word force is imperative?
The word "force" can be part of an imperative sentence when used as a verb, e.g., "Force the door open!"
Is the word force Gerund?
The gerund form of force would be "forcing," as in "Forcing the issue."
What is the root word of force?
The root of force is the Latin word "fortia," meaning strength or power.
Which vowel is used before force?
The use of vowels before "force" is not a relevant question. However, articles like "a" or "an" are used based on the following word's initial sound; "a" is used before "force."
What is the singular form of force?
The singular form is "force."
What part of speech is force?
Force can be a noun or a verb, depending on its use in a sentence.
Is force an abstract noun?
Yes, when referring to the concept of power or strength, force can be considered an abstract noun.
Which conjunction is used with force?
Conjunctions like "and," "or," and "but" can be used with "force" in sentences to connect clauses or items.
Which article is used with force?
The definite article "the" or indefinite article "a" can be used with "force" depending on whether it refers to a specific instance or force in general, e.g., "the force" or "a force."
What is the third form of force?
The third form (past participle) is "forced."
What is the opposite of force?
The opposite of force could be "weakness" or in the context of coercion, "voluntariness."
Is force a vowel or consonant?
This question doesn't apply to the word "force" as a whole; it applies to individual letters.
Is the word “force” a Direct object or an Indirect object?
"Force" can be a direct object, as in "They applied force," where "force" is what is being applied.
Which determiner is used with force?
Determiners such as "the," "a," "this," or "some" can be used with force depending on the context, e.g., "the force of the wind."
Which preposition is used with force?
Prepositions such as "with," "by," or "of" can be used with force, depending on the context, e.g., "with force," "by force," "force of nature."
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Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
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Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
