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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
WordNet (r) 2.0
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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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