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To force; to compel; to drive. [Obs.] The faith and service of Christ ought to be voluntary and not coacted. Foxe.

Force; compulsion, either in restraining or impelling. Sojth.

ling; now, under the control of the admiralty, drilled as a naval reserve. [Eng.] (b) The force employed in lifesaving stations along the seacoast. [U. S.] -- Coast rat (Zoöl.), a South African mammal (Bathyergus suillus), about the size of a rabbit, remarkable for its extensive burrows; -- called also sand mole. -- C…

To restrain by force, especially by law or authority; to repress; to curb. Burke. Punishments are manifold, that they may coerce this profligate sort. Ayliffe.

The application to another of either physical or moral force. When the force is physical, and cannot be resisted, then the act produced by it is a nullity, so far as concerns the party coerced. When the force is moral, then the act, though voidable, is imputable to the party doing it, unless he be so paralyzed by terro…

ve power can only influence us to outward practice. Bp. Warburton. Coercive or Coercitive force (Magnetism), the power or force which in iron or steel produces a slowness or difficulty in imparting magnetism to it, and also interposes an obstacle to the return of a bar to its natural state when active magnetism has cea…

The quality of being cogent; power of compelling conviction; conclusiveness; force. An antecedent argument of extreme cogency. J. H. Newman.

Compelling, in a physical sense; powerful. [Obs.] The cogent force of nature. Prior.

a homogeneous body together; as, cohesive attraction; producing cohesion; as, a cohesive force.

In an indirect or subordinate manner; indirectly. The will hath force upon the conscience collaterally and indirectly. Jer. Taylor.

To struggle or contend, as with an opposing force; to fight. To combat with a blind man I disdain. Milton. After the fall of the republic, the Romans combated only for the choice of masters. Gibbon.

The possession or exercise of authority. Command and force may often create, but can never cure, an aversion. Locke.

in chief, the military title of the officer who has supreme command of the land or naval forces or the united forces of a nation or state; a generalissimo. The President is commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States.

ments; an expositor; an annotator. The commentator's professed object is to explain, to enforce, to illustrate doctrines claimed as true. Whewell.

To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to force; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force. Wolsey . . . compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once. Hallam. And they compel one Simon . . . to bear his cross. Mark xv. 21.

The whole working force of a vessel.

A constituent part; an ingredient. Component of force (Mech.), a force which, acting conjointly with one or more forces, produces the effect of a single force or resultant; one of a number of forces into which a single force may be resolved.

ilize; to soothe; to calm; to quiet. Compose thy mind; Nor frauds are here contrived, nor force designed. Dryden.

individuals of a twin crystal are united in their reserved positions. -- Composition of forces (Mech.), the finding of a single force (called the resultant) which shall be equal in effect to two or more given forces (called the components) when acting in given directions. Herbert. -- Composition metal, an alloy rese…

To press or squeeze together; to force into a narrower compass; to reduce the volume of by pressure; to compact; to condense; as, to compress air or water. Events of centuries . . . compressed within the compass of a single life. D. Webster. The same strength of expression, though more compressed, runs through his hist…