/toor' deuh fawrs", -fohrs"/ ; Fr. /toohrdd deuh fawrdds"/ , pl. tours de force /toorz' deuh fawrs", -fohrs"/ ; Fr. /toohrdd deuh fawrdds"/ .
1. an exceptional achievement by an artist, author, or the like, that is unlikely to be equaled by that person or anyone else; stroke of genius: Herman Melville's Moby Dick was a tour de force.
2. a particularly adroit maneuver or technique in handling a difficult situation: The way the president got his bill through the Senate was a tour de force.
3. a feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity.
[ 1795-1805; ]