(~s, forcing, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If someone ~s you to do something, they make you do it even though you do not want to, for example by threatening you.
He was ~d to resign by Russia’s conservative parliament...
I cannot ~ you in this. You must decide...
They were grabbed by three men who appeared to ~ them into a car.
VERB: V n to-inf, V n, V n prep/adv
2.
If a situation or event ~s you to do something, it makes it necessary for you to do something that you would not otherwise have done.
A back injury ~d her to withdraw from Wimbledon...
He turned right, down a dirt road that ~d him into four-wheel drive...
She finally was ~d to the conclusion that she wouldn’t get another paid job in her field.
VERB: V n to-inf, V n into/to/out of n, V n into/to/out of n
3.
If someone ~s something on or upon you, they make you accept or use it when you would prefer not to.
To ~ this agreement on the nation is wrong.
= impose
VERB: V n on/upon n
4.
If you ~ something into a particular position, you use a lot of strength to make it move there.
They were forcing her head under the icy waters, drowning her.
VERB: V n prep/adv
5.
If someone ~s a lock, a door, or a window, they break the lock or fastening in order to get into a building without using a key.
That evening police ~d the door of the flat and arrested Mr Roberts...
He tried to ~ the window open but it was jammed shut.
VERB: V n, V n adj
6.
If someone uses ~ to do something, or if it is done by ~, strong and violent physical action is taken in order to achieve it.
The government decided against using ~ to break-up the demonstrations.
...the guerrillas’ efforts to seize power by ~.
N-UNCOUNT
7.
Force is the power or strength which something has.
The ~ of the explosion shattered the windows of several buildings...
N-UNCOUNT
8.
If you refer to someone or something as a ~ in a particular type of activity, you mean that they have a strong influence on it.
For years the army was the most powerful political ~ in the country...
One of the driving ~s behind this recent expansion is the growth of services.
N-COUNT: with supp, oft N in/behind n
9.
The ~ of something is the powerful effect or quality that it has.
He changed our world through the ~ of his ideas...
N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n
10.
You can use ~s to refer to processes and events that do not appear to be caused by human beings, and are therefore difficult to understand or control.
...the protection of mankind against the ~s of nature: epidemics, predators, floods, hurricanes...
The principle of market ~s was applied to some of the countries most revered institutions...
N-COUNT: usu pl, usu with supp
11.
In physics, a ~ is the pulling or pushing effect that something has on something else.
...the earth’s gravitational ~.
...protons and electrons trapped by magnetic ~s in the Van Allen belts.
N-VAR
12.
Force is used before a number to indicate a wind of a particular speed or strength, especially a very strong wind.
Northerly winds will increase to ~ six by midday.
N-UNCOUNT: N num
13.
If you ~ a smile or a laugh, you manage to smile or laugh, but with an effort because you are unhappy.
Joe ~d a smile, but underneath he was a little disturbed...
‘Why don’t you offer me a drink?’ he asked, with a ~d smile.
VERB: V n, V-ed
14.
Forces are groups of soldiers or military vehicles that are organized for a particular purpose.
...the deployment of American ~s in the region.
N-COUNT: usu pl
15.
The ~s means the army, the navy, or the air ~, or all three.
The more senior you become in the ~s, the more likely you are to end up in a desk job.
N-PLURAL
16.
The ~ is sometimes used to mean the police ~.
It was hard for a police officer to make friends outside the ~.
N-SING: det N
17.
see also air ~ , armed ~s , labour ~ , peacekeeping , task ~ , tour de ~ , work~
18.
If you do something from ~ of habit, you do it because you have always done it in the past, rather than because you have thought carefully about it.
Unconsciously, by ~ of habit, she plugged the coffee pot in.
PHRASE: usu from/by PHR
19.
A law, rule, or system that is in ~ exists or is being used.
Although the new tax is already in ~, you have until November to lodge an appeal.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
20.
When people do something in ~, they do it in large numbers.
Voters turned out in ~ for their first taste of multi-party elections.
PHRASE: PHR after v
21.
If you join ~s with someone, you work together in order to achieve a common aim or purpose.
William joined ~s with businessman Nicholas Court to launch the new vehicle.
PHRASE: V inflects, pl-n PHR, PHR with n
22.
If you ~ your way through or into somewhere, you have to push or break things that are in your way in order to get there.
The miners were armed with clubs as they ~d their way through a police cordon...
He ~d his way into a house shouting for help.
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR through/into n
23.
to ~ someone’s hand: see hand