Hypertext Webster Gateway: "compulsion"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Compulsion \Com*pul"sion\, 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.
If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would
give no man a reason upon compulsion. --Shak.
With what compulsion and laborious flight We sunk thus
low. --Milton.
Syn: See {Constraint}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
compulsion
n 1: an urge to do or say something that might be better left
undone or unsaid [syn: {irresistible impulse}]
2: an irrational motive for performing trivial or repetitive
actions against your will [syn: {obsession}]
3: using force to cause something: "though pressed into rugby
under compulsion I began to enjoy the game"; "they didn`t
have to use coercion" [syn: {coercion}]
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