forces 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of force
1
as in compels
to cause (a person) to give in to pressure the public outcry from the scandal forced the mayor to resign road construction forced them to take an alternate route

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Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in violates
to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse with a person unwilling or unable to give consent was accused of forcing a woman

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forces

2 of 2

noun

plural of force
1
as in workforces
a body of persons at work or available for work the entire force of the shipyard will be needed to get this government order done on time

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2
as in pressures
the use of power to impose one's will on another a cruel tyrant who disbanded the parliament and ruled by force

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in police
a body of officers of the law the police detective retired after 23 years on the force

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4
as in supplies
the number of individuals or amount of something available at any given time the great debate during the Cold War was whether the nation's missile force was adequate

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of forces
Verb
Coyote first hoodwinks and then forces Kevin into his lawsuit plans, taking Acme to task in a way the corporation, confident in its imperviousness, finds laughable. — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026 That forces them to interact with unknown adults that are outside the jurisdiction of the school. — Michele Gile, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026 Game is underway and Bishop Moore forces Palos Verdes to punt on first series. — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026 Lampkin’s unorthodox size forces the defenders to adjust, and leverage is such a valuable tool at the line of scrimmage. — Zach Berman, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026 In both cases, the option changes the situation and forces us to take responsibility for a decision that previously belonged to circumstance. — Monika Piotrowska, STAT, 26 Aug. 2026 By the time viewers reach hour 15, the staff has spent an entire shift navigating a cyberattack that forces the emergency department to abandon digital systems, a nonstop influx of Fourth of July emergencies and an abandoned baby. — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 25 Aug. 2026 This dwindling buffer forces the nation into a high-stakes standoff against the uncompromising laws of fluid dynamics, immense geological forces, strict federal statutes, and relentless geopolitical pressure. — Siddharth Misra, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026 Iranian officials dismiss the campaign as familiar punishment, while analysts warn decades of sanctions show pressure alone rarely forces Tehran to yield and may instead harden positions on all sides. — Farnoush Amiri, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Noun
Hollows haven’t been found elsewhere on planets in our solar system, and with no wind or water to form the thousands of puzzling depressions, scientists want to know what forces sculpted them. — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026 By isolating electrical and fluid lines from pulling forces, the design preserves conductor integrity and dramatically extends cable service life. — IEEE Spectrum, 3 Sep. 2026 Iran and its network of proxy forces have lobbed tens of thousands of rockets, missiles, and drones at major population centers in Israel. — Seth G. Jones, Foreign Affairs, 3 Sep. 2026 Russia's Defense Ministry said that its forces downed 416 Ukrainian drones overnight into Thursday morning. — David Brennan, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026 After individually making some of the most important films of the 1970s — of all time, for that matter — Lucas and Spielberg joined forces on what their pal and contemporary Martin Scorsese might call Pure Cinema. — Frank Deruggiero, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026 Drops railway temperatures To prevent high-speed aerodynamic forces from ripping the heat shields off, researchers secured the magnetic strips with dual mechanical fasteners. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2026 Russian forces have long targeted the strategic cities of Kostyantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk as part of a push to completely capture the Donetsk Oblast, one of the Kremlin’s key objectives in the conflict. — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026 Russia’s subsequent full-scale invasion has largely degraded into a battlefield stalemate, with Moscow’s and Kyiv’s forces vying for the upper hand, though the two sides have recently intensified their aerial attacks on one another. — Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for forces
  1. compels
  2. violates
  3. workforces
  4. pressures
  5. police
  6. supplies
  7. coerces
  8. rapes
Verb
  • The deal compels Facebook and Instagram to adopt new child-safety rules, including daily time caps, school-hour notification bans, stronger age checks and expanded parental controls aimed at harmful content.
    — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Washington also opposed another streaming regulation, known as Bill 109, passed in Quebec last December, which compels streaming platforms to prioritize French-language content.
    — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of compels
Verb
  • In the lawsuit Friday over Golden State Wind, California argues the deal violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which gives California input into offshore leasing decisions.
    — Blanca Begert, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026
  • This violates right-to-delete laws, and worse, hackers can reverse-engineer those leftover AI files to steal sensitive health data.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of violates
Noun
  • Now, advanced and sophisticated products are helping growing companies extend the impact of their existing workforces in ways that previously weren’t realistically attainable.
    — Lyssanoel Frater, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The companies with the most resilient workforces have made investment in employee trajectory a structural commitment, not a line item that disappears when headcount pressure arrives.
    — Susan LaMotte, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of workforces
Noun
  • Consequently, these price pressures could become significantly more pronounced by the end of this year, with effects potentially extending into 2027.
    — , CNBC, 3 Sep. 2026
  • When Miley asked how Taylor-Joy is managing the pressures of entering such a major property, the actress shrugged it off.
    — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of pressures
Noun
  • Blytheville Police Chief John Frazier deferred to the state police when reached by phone on Sunday.
    — Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 31 Aug. 2026
  • According to the police documents obtained by Law & Crime, Weatherall, 22, ordered a Lyft ride to an apartment complex in Greenville.
    — Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of police
Noun
  • The war, now stretching into its seventh month, has disrupted global energy supplies and sent shockwaves through global financial markets.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 1 Sep. 2026
  • The 10-foot-tall model is available, while supplies last for $199 on the Samuel Adams website.
    — Mike Snider, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of supplies
Verb
  • However, the rotation of this filament clearly dominates how the galaxies within it spin, perhaps by funneling hydrogen gas along the dark-matter filament and onto the galaxies in a way that coerces their spin while providing further fuel for star formation.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Dec. 2025
  • Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, Ali, a university professor, coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 14 Nov. 2025
Definition of coerces
Verb
  • In that film’s story, Insiang (Hilda Koronel) metes out revenge against Dado (Ruel Vernal), her hateful mother’s lover, who rapes her after rejecting his advances.
    — Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 10 July 2026
  • Through these photos, Dominique Pelicot is not ‘just’ casting an incestuous gaze on me, as was said during the investigation and the Mazan rapes trial.
    — TIME, Time, 7 Apr. 2026
Definition of rapes

Phrases Containing forces

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for certain
forces
forcible
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Cite this Entry

“Forces.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/forces. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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