Compulsion

4 definitions found

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

  Compulsion \Com*pul"sion\, n. [L. compulsio. See {Compel}.]
     The act of compelling, or the state of being compelled; the
     act of driving or urging by force or by physical or moral
     constraint; subjection to force.
     [1913 Webster]
  


           If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would
           give no man a reason upon compulsion.    --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           With what compulsion and laborious flight
           We sunk thus low.                        --Milton.
  
     Syn: See {Constraint}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  compulsion
       n 1: an urge to do or say something that might be better left
            undone or unsaid [syn: {irresistible impulse}]
       2: an irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive
          actions against your will [syn: {obsession}]
       3: using force to cause something; "though pressed into rugby
          under compulsion I began to enjoy the game"; "they didn`t
          have to use coercion" [syn: {coercion}]

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

  153 Moby Thesaurus words for "compulsion":
     abstraction, abulia, alienation, amperage, anxiety,
     anxiety equivalent, anxiety state, apathy, armipotence, authority,
     beef, black power, brute force, catatonic stupor, charge, charisma,
     clout, coercion, cogence, cogency, complex, compulsoriness,
     constraint, dejection, depression, detachment, dint, drive,
     driving, driving force, duress, effect, effectiveness,
     effectuality, elation, emotionalism, energy, euphoria, exigency,
     fascination, fixation, fixed idea, flower power, folie du doute,
     force, force majeure, forcefulness, full blast, full force,
     hang-up, hypercathexis, hypochondria, hysteria, hysterics,
     idee fixe, impellent, impelling, impelling force, impetus, impulse,
     impulsion, incentive, incitement, indifference, influence,
     insensibility, irresistible force, irresistible impulse, lethargy,
     main force, main strength, mana, mandatedness, mandatoriness,
     mania, melancholia, mental distress, might, might and main,
     mightiness, moment, momentum, monomania, morbid drive,
     motive power, moxie, muscle power, necessariness, necessitation,
     necessitude, necessity, need, obligation, obligatoriness,
     obligement, obsession, obsessive compulsion,
     pathological indecisiveness, pinch, pizzazz, poop, possession,
     potence, potency, potentiality, power, power pack, power structure,
     power struggle, powerfulness, preoccupation, prepossession,
     prepotency, press, pressing, pressure, productiveness,
     productivity, propulsion, psychalgia, psychomotor disturbance,
     puissance, pull, punch, push, rash impulse, ruling passion, sinew,
     steam, strength, stress, strong arm, stupor, superiority,
     superpower, thrust, tic, twitching, unresponsiveness, urge,
     urgency, validity, vehemence, vigor, vim, violence, virility,
     virtue, virulence, vitality, wattage, weight, withdrawal
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  COMPULSION, n.  The eloquence of power.