compel
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
compel
v 1: force somebody to do something; "We compel all students to
fill out this form" [syn: {compel}, {oblige}, {obligate}]
2: necessitate or exact; "the water shortage compels
conservation"
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Compel \Com*pel"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Compelled}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Compelling}.] [L. compellere, compulsum, to drive
together, to compel, urge; com- + pellere to drive: cf. OF.
compellir. See {Pulse}.]
1. To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to force; to
constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical
or moral force.
[1913 Webster]
Wolsey . . . compelled the people to pay up the
whole subsidy at once. --Hallam.
[1913 Webster]
And they compel one Simon . . . to bear his cross.
--Mark xv. 21.
[1913 Webster]
2. To take by force or violence; to seize; to exact; to
extort. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
Commissions, which compel from each
The sixth part of his substance. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
[1913 Webster]
Easy sleep their weary limbs compelled. --Dryden.
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I compel all creatures to my will. --Tennyson.
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4. To gather or unite in a crowd or company. [A Latinism] "In
one troop compelled." --Dryden.
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5. To call forth; to summon. [Obs.] --Chapman.
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She had this knight from far compelled. --Spenser.
Syn: To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See
{Coerce}.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
95 Moby Thesaurus words for "compel":
actuate, animate, beat down, beset, bind, break, browbeat,
bulldoze, bully, castrate, cause, cause to, clamp down on, coerce,
concuss, constrain, cow, daunt, despotize, dictate, domineer,
domineer over, drive, drive on, energize, enforce, enslave, force,
forward, foster, galvanize, give an impetus, give momentum, goad,
grind, grind down, grip, have, henpeck, hold, impel, incite,
infatuate, insist upon, intimidate, keep down, keep under,
lord it over, make, motivate, move, move to action, necessitate,
not let go, oblige, obsess, oppress, overawe, overbear, overmaster,
override, possess, power, preoccupy, press heavy on, promote,
propel, put in motion, repress, restrain, ride over,
ride roughshod over, set agoing, set going, set in motion, shotgun,
spark, stimulate, subjugate, suppress, terrorize, thrust, tie,
trample down, trample upon, tread down, tread upon, tyrannize,
tyrannize over, unman, use force upon, walk all over, walk over,
weigh heavy on, whip on
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