Dictionary

force-feed en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Meanings

1. To force a person or animal to ingest food, for example by stuffing food down the throat, or using a tube passed into the stomach.
   • They were ordered to force-feed the prisoners on hunger strike.
2. More broadly, also referring to forcing the drinking of a beverage or other liquid
   • He remembers the sound of Fish thrashing under the net, how he was forcefed river until he was still and dead and trampled on by his own frightened kin. December 2014 Tim Winton, "Cloud Street" page 88
   • Mr and Mrs Rakmil, are rocking him back and forth on the carpet while Mrs Brody Nina's mother is trying to forcefeed him with another beer bottle. 1968, Gil Orlovitz, Milkbottle H., page 16:
   • I finally poured water in a glass and shouted at him, "Keep your cool, man! You're more scared than the rest of us." And I force-fed him the water. May 2013 Zoya Pirzad, "Things We Left Unsaid" page 277
   • Frederick collapsed upon the stone, coughing up all the water Aerox had force-fed him. August 2013 Vince Seim, "A Mortal Mistake" page 422
   • Over the next two days, Bray's fever returned, left, and returned again. I'd force-fed him enough water to keep him alive, but the supply was dwindling and he lost so much when he had the bouts of sweating, I knew we were hitting a danger zone. April 2015 Heather Burch, "Summer by Summer" page 116
3. To force someone to take in information or accept an ideology.
   • The teachers at this school tend to force-feed their students information, rather than encourage critical thinking and debate.

Forms

Translations (12)

cmn 強行餵食 /强行喂食 (force a person or animal to ingest food) · ru пи́чкать (force someone to take in information) · ru принуди́тельно корми́ть (force a person or animal to ingest food) · sv tvångsmata (force a person or animal to ingest food) · de zwangsernähren (force a person or animal to ingest food) · cmn 填鴨式地灌輸 /填鸭式地灌输 (force someone to take in information) · fi pakkosyöttää (force someone to take in information) · sv tvångsmata (force someone to take in information) · fi pakkosyöttää (force a person or animal to ingest food) · fr gaver (force a person or animal to ingest food) · fr alimenter de force (force a person or animal to ingest food) · es atacuñar / atocuñar / atucuñar (Americanism) (force a person or animal to ingest food)