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HOME | Definition of compulsion (COMPULSION, Compulsion)


    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]

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48


    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]

    WordNet (r) 2.0


    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

    Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0


    COMPULSION, n. The eloquence of power.

    THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)




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