What does force mean?

What does force mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does force mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] a powerful effect or influence(the force of his eloquence easily persuaded them)[v] 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)[n] (physics) the influence that produce

force

force - The Free Dictionary

[n] a powerful effect or influence
(the force of his eloquence easily persuaded them)

[v] 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)

[n] (physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity
(force equals mass times acceleration)

[v] urge or force (a person) to an action; constrain or motivate

[n] 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)

[v] move with force,
(He pushed the table into a corner)

[n] group of people willing to obey orders
(a public force is necessary to give security to the rights of citizens)

[v] impose urgently, importunately, or inexorably
(She forced her diet fads on him)

[n] a unit that is part of some military service
(he sent Caesar a force of six thousand men)

[v] squeeze like a wedge into a tight space
(I squeezed myself into the corner)

[n] 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)

[v] force into or from an action or state, either physically or metaphorically
(She rammed her mind into focus He drives me mad)

[n] 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)

[v] cause to move by pulling
(draw a wagon pull a sled)

[n] a group of people having the power of effective action
(he joined forces with a band of adventurers)

[v] do forcibly; exert force
(Don't force it!)

[n] (of a law) having legal validity
(the law is still in effect)

[v] take by force
(Storm the fort)

[n] a putout of a base runner who is required to run; the putout is accomplished by holding the ball while touching the base to which the runner must advance before the runner reaches that base
(the shortstop got the runner at second on a force)

Other vocabulary

f, f clef, f layer, f number, f region, f. d. roosevelt, f. g. banting, f. scott fitzgerald, f.i.s.c., fa, fa la, faa, fab, fabaceae, faberge, fabian, fabian society, fabiana, fabiana imbricata, fabianism, fable, fabled, fabric, fabricate, fabricated, fabrication, fabricator, fabulist, fabulous, fabulously, o, o level, o ring, o'brien, o'casey, o'clock, o'connor, o'er, o'flaherty, o'hara, o'keeffe, o'neill, o'toole, o. henry, o.d., o.e.d., o.k., oaf, oafish, oahu, oahu island, oak, oak apple, oak blight, oak chestnut, oak fern, oak leaf cluster, oak tree, oak-leaved goosefoot, oaken

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.