- force
- ▪ I. force force 1 [fɔːs ǁ fɔːrs] noun1. [countable] a group of people who have been trained and organized for a particular purpose:
• Our division has expanded its sales force (= the people in a company who sell the company's products ) to 160.
ˈlabour force , labor force [countable]all the people who work for a company or in a country:• Out of Minnesota's labor force of 2.1 million, only 110,000 are reckoned to be earning the minimum wage.
ˈtask force [countable]a group formed for a short time to deal with a particular problem:• Management gave a task force only five months to do two years of research-and-development work.
2. in force LAW if a law or rule is in force, it exists and must be obeyed:• These regulations have been in force since 1997.
• New EU directives come into force (= start to operate ) in April.
3. [countable usually singular] something or someone that has a strong influence on an activity or the way events develop:• She is the driving force (= person or thing that has the strongest influence on the way things happen ) behind the group's creation.
• The group is certainly a force to be reckoned with (= has a lot of power and influence ) in the publishing industry.
US /fɔːs/ noun► [C, usually singular] a person or thing with a lot of influence, power, or energy: a dominant/major/powerful force »The takeover will create a powerful new force in Britain's food retail industry.
commercial/competitive/economic forces »Potent commercial forces are bringing the hydrogen economy along faster than anyone thought possible.
a force for change/good »The movement of work to developing economies must be a force for good.
► [C] a group of people organized and trained for a particular purpose: »The company soon had a sales force distributed across Europe.
► [U] the influence or authority of something: »They made sure the minister felt the full force of business resentment at the government's new workplace laws.
»It was not until the summer that the advertising campaign gained force.
»These building codes do not have the force of law.
→ See also DRIVING FORCE(Cf. ↑driving force), LABOUR FORCE(Cf. ↑labour force), MARKET FORCES(Cf. ↑market forces), SALES FORCE(Cf. ↑sales force), TASK FORCE(Cf. ↑task force), WORKFORCE(Cf. ↑workforce)Ⅱ.force UK US /fɔːs/ verb [T]► to make a person or an organization do something that they do not want to do: force sb/sth to do sth »The arrival of the new supermarket has forced local businesses to raise their wages to compete.
force sb/sth into sth »Heavy law school debt frequently forces graduates into high-paying jobs at private firms, where intense deadlines and grinding hours are routine.
force sb/sth into doing sth »Customers are being forced into banking by phone or over the internet.
► to make something happen, especially something that people do not want to happen: »The economic slowdown has forced a second week of temporary closure.
»The government threatened to force an agreement between banks and retailers for a new system.
Financial and business terms. 2012.
