v. In 5 ? coherce. [ad. L. coercēre to shut in, restrain, confine, f. co- together + arcēre to shut up, restrain, keep off, prevent. F. had cohercier, -er, coercer in 14–16th c., whence the example of coherce in 1475 (if this is not a misprint for COHERT, the ordinary word at that time).]
1. trans. To constrain or restrain (a voluntary or moral agent) by the application of superior force, or by authority resting on force; to constrain to compliance or obedience by forcible means; ‘to keep in order by force’ (J.). Also absol.
1659. [see COERCING].
a. 1680. Butler, Rem. (1759), I. 78.
| When an old Proverb, or an End of Verse | |
| Could more, than all our Penal Laws, coerce. |
1726. Ayliffe, Parerg., 290. The Punishments … sufficient to coerce this profligate sort of Men.
a. 1734. North, Lives, III. 125. To coerce the crowds and keep order.
1858. Froude, Hist. Eng., III. xvi. 374. When they were able, coercing the voters with a high hand.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea (1877), I. vii. 105. He was charged to coerce, and not to persuade.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 400–1. States of discord, in which … the subjects always obey against their will, and have to be coerced.
b. (with the action of the agent as object).
1856. Froude, Hist. Eng., I. 259. Having the advantage of numbers, they coerced the entire proceedings.
1866. Rogers, Agric. & Prices, I. xxviii. 669. Tenants … able to offer a very vigorous and sustained resistance to any attempts made to coerce their labour.
c. absol. To use coercive measures in government. Cf. COERCION 2.
1833. Palmerston, Sp. Irish Coercion, 21 March. There is the difference between us and Metternich or the Pope; we coerce as they do, but then we redress grievances as they do not.
1885. Academy, 14 Nov., 319/2. ‘Coerce, coerce,’ was dinned into Thomas Drummond’s ears by coercion-reared officials.
2. Const. a. To compel or force to do anything.
(The first quot. may be a misprint for coherte, used elsewhere as on p. 38.)
1475. Bk. Noblesse, 69. The duc … wyth hys felyshyppe were coherced to take the Bastyle for her deffence.
1848. Lytton, Harold, v. 254. To have coerced those warriors to march.
b. To force into (an action or state).
a. 1853. Robertson, Serm., Ser. III. iii. (1872), 41. Coerce the particulars of faith into exact coincidence with a formal creed.
1876. Green, Short Hist., iv. 206. The Scotch barons … were coerced into submission.
3. To subject to restraint in the matter of. rare.
1780. Burke, Sp. Bristol prev. to Election, Wks. III. 377. Therefore the debtor is ordered … to be coerced his liberty until he makes payment.
4. To enforce or effect by compulsion. (U.S.)
a. 1850. Calhoun, Wks. (1864), II. 27. The arm of despotism … could not have coerced its execution more effectually, than the patience and zeal of the people.
1864. Webster, To coerce obedience, to coerce compliance with the conditions of a contract.
1877. [see COERCED].
† 5. To enforce (anything) on any one. rare.
1790. Cath. M. Graham, Lett. Educ., 197. Tenets framed on the principle of a human interest, were represented as divine truths, and coerced on the human mind under the pains and penalties of death in this world, and damnation in the next.
