COERCE

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

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Etymology

Verb

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.

Synonyms

• compel

• bully

• dragoon

Source: Wiktionary

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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

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