coerce, hale, squeeze, pressure, force
(verb) 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”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
coerce (third-person singular simple present coerces, present participle coercing, simple past and past participle coerced)
(transitive) To restrain by force, especially by law or authority; to repress; to curb.
(transitive) To use force, threat, fraud, or intimidation in an attempt to compel one to act against their will.
(transitive, computing) To force an attribute, normally of a data type, to take on the attribute of another data type.
• compel
• bully
• dragoon
Source: Wiktionary
Co*erce", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Coerced; p. pr. & vb. n. Coercing.] Etym: [L. coërcere; co- + arcere to shut up, to press together. See Ark.]
1. 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.
2. To compel or constrain to any action; as, to coerce a man to vote for a certain candidate.
3. To compel or enforce; as, to coerce obedience.
Syn.
– To Coerce, Compel. To compel denotes to urge on by force which cannot be resisted. The term aplies equally to physical and moral force; as, compelled by hunger; compelled adverse circumstances; compelled by parental affection. Coerce had at first only the negative sense of checking or restraining by force; as, to coerce a bad man by punishments or a prisoner with fetters. It has now gained a positive sense., viz., that of driving a person into the performance of some act which is required of him by another; as, to coerce a man to sign a contract; to coerce obedience. In this sense (which is now the prevailing one), coerce differs but little from compel, and yet there is a distinction between them. Coercion is usually acomplished by indirect means, as threats and intimidation, physical force being more rarely employed in coercing.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
7 May 2025
(noun) a person who is employed to deliver messages or documents; “he sent a runner over with the contract”
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
