Coerce

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Coerce \Co*erce"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Coerced}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Coercing}.] [L. co["e]rcere; 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.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              Punishments are manifold, that they may coerce this
              profligate sort.                      --Ayliffe.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To compel or constrain to any action; as, to coerce a man
        to vote for a certain candidate.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To compel or enforce; as, to coerce obedience.
  
     Syn: To {Coerce}, {Compel}.
  
     Usage: 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.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  coerce
       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" [syn:
            {hale}, {squeeze}, {pressure}, {force}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  61 Moby Thesaurus words for "coerce":
     beat down, beset, blackjack, bludgeon, break, browbeat, bulldoze,
     bully, castrate, clamp down on, compel, concuss, constrain, cow,
     daunt, despotize, domineer, domineer over, dragoon, enslave, grind,
     grind down, henpeck, hijack, intimidate, keep down, keep under,
     lord it over, make, menace, oblige, oppress, overawe, overbear,
     overmaster, override, press heavy on, push, repress, ride over,
     ride roughshod over, shanghai, shotgun, steamroller, strong-arm,
     subjugate, suppress, terrorize, threaten, trample down,
     trample upon, tread down, tread upon, tyrannize, tyrannize over,
     unman, urge, use violence, walk all over, walk over,
     weigh heavy on