- force
-
/fawrs, fohrs/, n., v., forced, forcing.n.1. physical power or strength possessed by a living being: He used all his force in opening the window.2. strength or power exerted upon an object; physical coercion; violence: to use force to open the window; to use force on a person.3. strength; energy; power; intensity: a personality of great force.4. power to influence, affect, or control; efficacious power: the force of circumstances; a force for law and order.5. Law. unlawful violence threatened or committed against persons or property.6. persuasive power; power to convince: They felt the force of his arguments.7. mental or moral strength: force of character.8. might, as of a ruler or realm; strength for war.9. Often, forces. the military or fighting strength, esp. of a nation.10. any body of persons combined for joint action: a sales force.11. intensity or strength of effect: the force of her acting.12. Physics.a. an influence on a body or system, producing or tending to produce a change in movement or in shape or other effects.b. the intensity of such an influence. Symbol: F, f13. any influence or agency analogous to physical force: social forces.14. binding power, as of a contract.15. Baseball. See force play.16. value; significance; meaning.17. Billiards. a stroke in which the cue ball is forcibly struck directly below the center in such a manner as to cause it to stop abruptly, bound back, or roll off to one side after hitting the object ball.18. in force,a. in operation; effective: This ancient rule is no longer in force.b. in large numbers; at full strength: They attacked in force.v.t.19. to compel, constrain, or oblige (oneself or someone) to do something: to force a suspect to confess.20. to drive or propel against resistance: He forced his way through the crowd. They forced air into his lungs.21. to bring about or effect by force.22. to bring about of necessity or as a necessary result: to force a smile.23. to put or impose (something or someone) forcibly on or upon a person: to force one's opinions on others.24. to compel by force; overcome the resistance of: to force acceptance of something.25. to obtain or draw forth by or as if by force; extort: to force a confession.26. to enter or take by force; overpower: They forced the town after a long siege.27. to break open (a door, lock, etc.).28. to cause (plants, fruits, etc.) to grow or mature at an increased rate by artificial means.29. to press, urge, or exert (an animal, person, etc.) to violent effort or to the utmost.30. to use force upon.31. to rape.32. Baseball.a. to cause (a base runner) to be put out by obliging the runner, as by a ground ball, to vacate a base and attempt to move to the next base in order to make room for another runner or the batter.b. to cause (a base runner or run) to score, as by walking a batter with the bases full (often fol. by in).33. Cards.a. to compel (a player) to trump by leading a suit of which the player has no cards.b. to compel a player to play (a particular card).c. to compel (a player) to play so as to make known the strength of the hand.34. Photog.a. to develop (a print or negative) for longer than usual in order to increase density or bring out details.b. to bring out underexposed parts of (a print or negative) by adding alkali to the developer.35. Archaic. to give force to; strengthen; reinforce.v.i.36. to make one's way by force.[1250-1300; (n.) ME < MF < VL *fortia, deriv. of L fortis strong; (v.) ME forcen < AF, OF forcer, deriv. of the n.]Syn. 3. vigor. See strength. 4. compulsion, constraint. 6. efficacy, effectiveness, cogency, potency, validity. 19. coerce. 20. impel. 26. overcome; violate, ravish, rape.Ant. 3. weakness. 6. impotence.
* * *
IAction that tends to maintain or alter the position of a body or to distort it.It is a vector quantity, having both magnitude and direction. Force is commonly explained in terms of Newton's laws of motion. All known natural forces can be traced to the fundamental interactions. Force is measured in newtons (N); a force of 1 N will accelerate a mass of 1 kg at a rate of 1 m/sec/sec. See also centrifugal force; Coriolis force; electromagnetic force; electric force; magnetic force; strong force; weak force.II(as used in expressions)Self Defense Force* * *
▪ physicsin mechanics, any action that tends to maintain or alter the motion of a body or to distort it. The concept of force is commonly explained in terms of Newton's three laws of motion (Newton's laws of motion) set forth in his Principia Mathematica (1687). According to Newton's first principle, a body that is at rest or moving at a uniform rate in a straight line will remain in that state until some force is applied to it. The second law says that when an external force acts on a body, it produces an acceleration (change in velocity) of the body in the direction of the force. The magnitude of the acceleration is directly proportional to the magnitude of the external force and inversely proportional to the quantity of matter in the body. Newton's third law states that when one body exerts a force on another body, the second body exerts an equal force on the first body. This principle of action and reaction explains why a force tends to deform a body (i.e., change its shape) whether or not it causes the body to move. The deformation of a body can usually be neglected when investigating its motion.Because force has both magnitude and direction, it is a vector quantity. The representation of forces by vectors implies that they are concentrated either at a single point or along a single line. This is, however, physically impossible. On a loaded component of a structure, for example, the applied force produces an internal force, or stress, that is distributed over the cross section of the component. The force of gravity is invariably distributed throughout the volume of a body. Nonetheless, when the equilibrium of a body is the primary consideration, it is generally valid as well as convenient to assume that the forces are concentrated at a single point. In the case of gravitational force, the total weight of a body may be assumed to be concentrated at its centre of gravity (see gravity, centre of).Physicists use the newton, a unit of the International System (SI), for measuring force. A newton is the force needed to accelerate a body weighing one kilogram by one metre per second per second. The formula F = ma is employed to calculate the number of newtons required to increase or decrease the velocity of a given body. In countries still using the English system of measurement, engineers commonly measure force in pounds. One pound of force imparts to a one-pound object an acceleration of 32.17 feet per second squared.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
