Enforce
[ɪn'fɔːs;en-] or [ɪn'fɔrs]
Definition
(verb.) ensure observance of laws and rules; 'Apply the rules to everyone';.
(verb.) compel to behave in a certain way; 'Social relations impose courtesy'.
Checked by Darren--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To put force upon; to force; to constrain; to compel; as, to enforce obedience to commands.
(v. t.) To make or gain by force; to obtain by force; as, to enforce a passage.
(v. t.) To put in motion or action by violence; to drive.
(v. t.) To give force to; to strengthen; to invigorate; to urge with energy; as, to enforce arguments or requests.
(v. t.) To put in force; to cause to take effect; to give effect to; to execute with vigor; as, to enforce the laws.
(v. t.) To urge; to ply hard; to lay much stress upon.
(v. i.) To attempt by force.
(v. i.) To prove; to evince.
(v. i.) To strengthen; to grow strong.
(n.) Force; strength; power.
Editor: Rudolf
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Give force to, urge with energy, set forth strongly, impress on the mind.[2]. Put in execution, put in force.[3]. Constrain, compel, oblige, force, require.
Checked by Basil
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Urge, compel, require, exact, exert, strain
ANT:Relax, waive, forego, remit, abandon
Typed by Ethan
Definition
v.t. to gain by force: to give force to: to put in force: to give effect to: to urge: (Spens.) to attempt.—adj. Enforce′able.—adv. Enforc′edly by violence not by choice.—n. Enforce′ment act of enforcing: compulsion: a giving effect to: that which enforces.
Editor: Lora
Examples
- Anyone who has had the smallest experience of municipal politics knows that the corruption of the police is directly proportionate to the severity of the taboos it is asked to enforce. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Some of his readers suspect him of writing to enforce it. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The clepsydra became in Greece a useful instrument to enforce the law in restricting loquacious orators and lawyers to reasonable limits in their addresses. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- It was in the court outside the treasury that my cousin and I met, to enforce the laws of discipline on our own soldiers. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Such is the condition of our laws and practice that the patentee in seeking to enforce his rights labors under a terrible handicap. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Then leaving her seat, and coming to him to enforce the proposal, added in a whisper, We want to make a table for Mrs. Rushworth, you know. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- No Act of Parliament is now required, as originally proposed by Mr. Winsor, to enforce the burning of coal gas. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- If you study the success of Roosevelt the point is re-enforced. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- If by some magic every taboo of the commission could be enforced the abolition of sex slavery would not have come one step nearer to reality. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- If it is, then the taboo enforced by a Morals Police is, perhaps, as good a way as any of gaining a fictitious sense of activity. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Mrs. Jennings enforced the necessity. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- We could not see the enemy, so I ordered my men to lie down, an order that did not have to be enforced. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Only humane laws can be successfully enforced; and they are the only ones really worth enforcing. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- I described, and enforced them earnestly. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Though the object of our civil duties be the enforcing of our natural, yet the first [First in time, not in dignity or force. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- He is connected with the Mafia, which, as you know, is a secret political society, enforcing its decrees by murder. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Only humane laws can be successfully enforced; and they are the only ones really worth enforcing. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- From all, moreover, as the parable of the buried talent witnesses, and as the incident of the widow's mite enforces, he demands the utmost. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Editor: Martin