compulsion

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: com=pul=sion
• COUNT in NET: 2 in 2 verses (in NT : 2 in 2 verses)

CIDE DICTIONARY

compulsion, n. [L. compulsio. See Compel.].

 The act of compelling, or the state of being compelled; the act of driving or urging by force or by physical or moral constraint; subjection to force.  [1913 Webster]
"If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion."  [1913 Webster]
"With what compulsion and laborious flight
We sunk thus low."

Syn. -- See Constraint.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

compulsion, n.
1 a constraint; an obligation.
2 Psychol. an irresistible urge to a form of behaviour, esp. against one's conscious wishes.

Idiom

under compulsion because one is compelled.

Etymology

ME f. F f. LL compulsio -onis (as compel)

DEVIL DICTIONARY

compulsion

n. The eloquence of power.

THESAURUS

compulsion

abstraction, abulia, alienation, amperage, anxiety, anxiety equivalent, anxiety state, apathy, armipotence, authority, beef, black power, brute force, catatonic stupor, charge, charisma, clout, coercion, cogence, cogency, complex, compulsoriness, constraint, dejection, depression, detachment, dint, drive, driving, driving force, duress, effect, effectiveness, effectuality, elation, emotionalism, energy, euphoria, exigency, fascination, fixation, fixed idea, flower power, folie du doute, force, force majeure, forcefulness, full blast, full force, hang-up, hypercathexis, hypochondria, hysteria, hysterics, idee fixe, impellent, impelling, impelling force, impetus, impulse, impulsion, incentive, incitement, indifference, influence, insensibility, irresistible force, irresistible impulse, lethargy, main force, main strength, mana, mandatedness, mandatoriness, mania, melancholia, mental distress, might, might and main, mightiness, moment, momentum, monomania, morbid drive, motive power, moxie, muscle power, necessariness, necessitation, necessitude, necessity, need, obligation, obligatoriness, obligement, obsession, obsessive compulsion, pathological indecisiveness, pinch, pizzazz, poop, possession, potence, potency, potentiality, power, power pack, power structure, power struggle, powerfulness, preoccupation, prepossession, prepotency, press, pressing, pressure, productiveness, productivity, propulsion, psychalgia, psychomotor disturbance, puissance, pull, punch, push, rash impulse, ruling passion, sinew, steam, strength, stress, strong arm, stupor, superiority, superpower, thrust, tic, twitching, unresponsiveness, urge, urgency, validity, vehemence, vigor, vim, violence, virility, virtue, virulence, vitality, wattage, weight, withdrawal

ROGET THESAURUS

compulsion

Necessity

N necessity, involuntariness, instinct, blind impulse, inborn proclivity, innate proclivity, native tendency, natural tendency, natural impulse, predetermination, necessity, necessitation, obligation, compulsion, subjection, stern necessity, hard necessity, dire necessity, imperious necessity, inexorable necessity, iron necessity, adverse necessity, fate, what must be, destiny, destination, fatality, fate, kismet, doom, foredoom, election, predestination, preordination, foreordination, lot fortune, fatalism, inevitableness, spell, star, stars, planet, planets, astral influence, sky, Fates, Parcae, Sisters three, book of fate, God's will, will of Heaven, wheel of Fortune, Ides of March, Hobson's choice, last shift, last resort, dernier ressort, pis aller, necessaries, necessarian, necessitarian, fatalist, automaton, necessary, needful, fated, destined, elect, spellbound compulsory, uncontrollable, inevitable, unavoidable, irresistible, irrevocable, inexorable, avoidless, resistless, involuntary, instinctive, automatic, blind, mechanical, unconscious, unwitting, unthinking, unintentional, impulsive, necessarily, of necessity, of course, ex necessitate rei, needs must, perforce, nolens volens, will he nil he, willy nilly, bon gre mal gre, willing or unwilling, coute que coute, faute de mieux, by stress of, if need be, it cannot be helped, there is no help for, there is no helping it, it will be, it must be, it needs to be, it must be so, it will have its way, the die is cast, jacta est alea, che sara sara, it is written, one's days are numbered, one's fate is sealed, Fata obstant, diis aliter visum, actum me invito factus, non est meus actus, aujord'hui roi demain rien, quisque suos patimur manes, The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, Nor all thy piety nor wit shall draw it back to ca.

Compulsion

N compulsion, coercion, coaction, constraint, duress, enforcement, press, conscription, force, brute force, main force, physical force, the sword, ultima ratio, club law, lynch law, mob law, arguementum baculinum, le droit du plus fort, martial law, restraint, necessity, force majeure, Hobson's choice, compelling, coercive, coactive, inexorable, compulsory, compulsatory, obligatory, stringent, peremptory, forcible, not to be trifled with, irresistible, compelled, fain to, by force, by force of arms, on compulsion, perforce, vi et armis, under the lash, at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet, forcibly, by a strong arm, under protest, in spite of one's teeth, against one's will, nolens volens, by stress of circumstances, by stress of weather, under press of, de rigueur, with a gun to one's head, I'll make him an offer he can't refuse.