for|bear|ance /fɔː r beə rəns/ N‑UNCOUNT If you say that someone has shown forbearance , you admire them for behaving in a calm and sensible way about something that they have a right to be very upset or angry about. [FORMAL , APPROVAL ] □ All the Greenpeace people behaved with impressive forbearance and dignity.
for|bear|ing /fɔː r beə r I ŋ/ ADJ Someone who is forbearing behaves in a calm and sensible way at a time when they would have a right to be very upset or angry. [FORMAL , APPROVAL ]
for|bid /fə r b I d/ (forbids , forbidding , forbade , forbidden )
1 VERB If you forbid someone to do something, or if you forbid an activity, you order that it must not be done. □ [V n to-inf] They'll forbid you to marry. □ [V n] Brazil's constitution forbids the military use of nuclear energy.
2 VERB If something forbids a particular course of action or state of affairs, it makes it impossible for the course of action or state of affairs to happen. □ [V n to-inf] His own pride forbids him to ask Arthur's help. □ [V n] Custom forbids any modernisation.
3 God forbid → see god
4 heaven forbid → see heaven
for|bid|den /fə r b I d ə n/
1 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If something is forbidden , you are not allowed to do it or have it. □ Smoking was forbidden everywhere. □ It is forbidden to drive faster than 20mph.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A forbidden place is one that you are not allowed to visit or enter. □ This was a forbidden area for foreigners.
3 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Forbidden is used to describe things that people strongly disapprove of or feel guilty about, and that are not often mentioned or talked about. □ The war was a forbidden subject. □ Divorce? It was such a forbidden word.
for|bi d|den frui t (forbidden fruits ) N‑VAR Forbidden fruit is a source of pleasure that involves breaking a rule or doing something that you are not supposed to do. □ …the forbidden fruit of an illicit romance.
for|bid|ding /fə r b I d I ŋ/ ADJ If you describe a person, place, or thing as forbidding , you mean they have a severe, unfriendly, or threatening appearance. □ There was something a little severe and forbidding about her face. □ …a huge, forbidding building.
force ◆◆◆ /fɔː r s/ (forces , forcing , forced )
1 VERB If someone forces you to do something, they make you do it even though you do not want to, for example by threatening you. □ [V n to-inf] The royal family were forced to flee with their infant son. □ [V n] I cannot force you in this. You must decide. □ [V n prep/adv] They were grabbed by three men who appeared to force them into a car.
2 VERB If a situation or event forces you to do something, it makes it necessary for you to do something that you would not otherwise have done. □ [V n to-inf] A back injury forced her to withdraw from the tournament. □ [V n + into/to/out of ] He turned right, down a dirt road that forced him into four-wheel drive. □ [be V -ed + into/to/out of ] She finally was forced to the conclusion that she wouldn't get another paid job in her field.
3 VERB If someone forces something on or upon you, they make you accept or use it when you would prefer not to. □ [V n + on/upon ] To force this agreement on the nation is wrong.
4 VERB If you force something into a particular position, you use a lot of strength to make it move there. □ [V n prep/adv] They were forcing her head under the icy waters, drowning her.
5 VERB If someone forces a lock, a door, or a window, they break the lock or fastening in order to get into a building without using a key. □ [V n] That evening police forced the door of the flat and arrested Mr Roberts. □ [V n adj] He tried to force the window open but it was jammed shut.
6 N‑UNCOUNT If someone uses force to do something, or if it is done by force , strong and violent physical action is taken in order to achieve it. □ The government decided against using force to break up the demonstrations. □ …the guerrillas' efforts to seize power by force.
7 N‑UNCOUNT Force is the power or strength which something has. □ The force of the explosion shattered the windows of several buildings.
8 N‑COUNT If you refer to someone or something as a force in a particular type of activity, you mean that they have a strong influence on it. □ [+ in ] For years the army was the most powerful political force in the country. □ [+ behind ] One of the driving forces behind this recent expansion is the growth of services.
9 N‑UNCOUNT The force of something is the powerful effect or quality that it has. □ [+ of ] He changed our world through the force of his ideas.
10 N‑COUNT [usu pl] You can use forces to refer to processes and events that do not appear to be caused by human beings, and are therefore difficult to understand or control. □ [+ of ] …the forces of nature: epidemics, predators, floods, hurricanes. □ The principle of market forces was applied to some of the country's most revered institutions.
11 N‑VAR In physics, a force is the pulling or pushing effect that something has on something else. □ …the earth's gravitational force. □ …protons and electrons trapped by magnetic forces in the Van Allen belts.