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Hardship; constraint; pressure; imprisonment; restraint of liberty. The agreements . . . made with the landlords during the time of slavery, are only the effect of duress and force. Burke.

Deafening; disagreeably loud or shrill; as, ear-splitting strains.

Freedom from constraint, formality, difficulty, embarrassment, etc.; facility; liberty; naturalness; -- said of manner, style, etc.; as, ease of style, of behavior, of address. True ease in writing comes from art, not chance. Pope. Whate'er he did was done with so much ease, In him alone 't was natural to please. Dryde…

Freedom from effort, constraint, or formality; -- said of style, manner, etc. With painful care, but seeming easiness. Roscommon.

At ease; free from pain, trouble, or constraint; as: (a) Free from pain, distress, toil, exertion, and the like; quiet; as, the patient is easy. (b) Free from care, responsibility, discontent, and the like; not anxious; tranquil; as, an easy mind. (c) Free from constraint, harshness, or formality; unconstrained; smooth…

To force; to constrain; to compel to yield. [Obs.] Spenser.

r overwork. Coefficient of elasticity, the quotient of a stress (of a given kind), by the strain (of a given kind) which it produces; -- called also coefficient of resistance. -- Surface of elasticity (Geom.), the pedal surface of an ellipsoid (see Pedal); a surface used in explaining the phenomena of double refractio…

ten in elegiacs; plaintive; expressing sorrow or lamentation; as, an elegiac lay; elegiac strains. Elegiac griefs, and songs of love. Mrs. Browning.

To wash or strain out so as to purify; as, to elutriate the blood as it passes through the lungs; to strain off or decant, as a powder which is separated from heavier particles by being drawn off with water; to cleanse, as by washing.

To put force upon; to force; to constrain; to compel; as, to enforce obedience to commands. Inward joy enforced my heart to smile. Shak.

That which enforces, constraints, gives force, authority, or effect to; constraint; force applied. The rewards and punishment of another life, which the Almighty has established as the enforcements of his law. Locke.

Serving to enforce or constrain; compulsive. Marsion. -- En*for"cive*ly, adv.

To prohibit or restrain by a judicial order or decree; to put an injunction on. This is a suit to enjoin the defendants from disturbing the plaintiffs. Kent.

To set at large or set free. [Archaic] It will enlarge us from all restraints. Barrow. Enlarging hammer, a hammer with a slightly rounded face of large diameter; -- used by gold beaters. Knight. -- To enlarge an order or rule (Law), to extend the time for complying with it. Abbott. -- To enlarge one's self, to give f…

tly, gay, or cheerful; to animate; as, mirth and good humor enliven a company; enlivening strains of music.

That which escapes attention or restraint; a mistake; an oversight; also, transgression. [Obs.] I should have been more accurate, and corrected all those former escapes. Burton.

To range at large, or without restraint. Bids his free soul expatiate in the skies. Pope.

ng meant to be conveyed; significant; emphatic; as, expressive looks or words. You have restrained yourself within the list of too cold an adieu; be more expressive to them. Shak. Through her expressive eyes her soul distinctly spoke. Littelton. -- Ex*press"ive*ly,adv. -- Ex*press"ive*ness,n.

Exceeding due bounds; wild; excessive; unrestrained; as, extravagant acts, wishes, praise, abuse. There appears something nobly wild and extravagant in great natural geniuses. Addison.

Satisfied; contented; also, constrained. Shak. The learned Castalio was fain to make trechers at Basle to keep himself from starving. Locke.