to compel to take food, especially by means of a tube inserted into the throat.
They force-fed the prisoners in the hunger strike.
to compel to absorb or assimilate.
The recruits were force-fed a military attitude.
to force (a person or animal) to eat or swallow food
to force (someone) to receive opinions, propaganda, etc
First recorded in 1915–20
First recorded in 1905–10
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“You don’t generally convince senators by trying to force feed them,” Kennedy said in an interview.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
Limiting Patterson is hard, though, as the Falcons continue to force feed their breakout playmaker with so many touches that he’s tied for the sixth-most touchdowns from scrimmage.
From New York Times ● Dec. 16, 2021
Fangio said he’s certain his fiery first-round draft pick will use the letdown as kindling for a prosperous career, but he’s not going to force feed him the ball Sunday.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2020
Yeast also needs to consume sugar gradually—a production plant can’t force feed the cells at a faster clip.
From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2020
“You’ll have to force feed her—strong soup and eggs and cod liver oil.”
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
“Gone are the days whereby you can force-feed me only American content,” Abudu said.
From New York Times ● Sep. 23, 2021
Still, watching the International Olympic Committee put the Games on a fork and force-feed them to the resistant toddler that was Japan, well, it drove home the point about who’s actually in power here.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 8, 2021
I text back "I'm really sorry I tried to force-feed you Weetabix".
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2020
It’s happened my whole career where people try to force-feed you.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2019
“We’ll have to force-feed him,” Inigo said, unwrapping the chocolate-colored lump.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
McDonald, who wrote the bestseller, “A Colossal Failure of Common Sense,” said tech representation in the S&P 500 is so high that retail investors are being force-fed the sector.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
As I’m seemingly force-fed curling every time I turn on the Winter Olympics, I have no orientation as to what it takes to be a good curler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2026
They’re not given tools for critical thinking, but force-fed ready-made schemes for perceiving the world.
From Slate ● Oct. 18, 2025
Taylor Bradford was born in Leeds, where her mother "force-fed me books", and young Barbara had her first story published at the age of 10 in a children’s magazine.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2024
In England, more than a thousand suffragettes spent time in jail, and dozens were force-fed.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Today, producers are concentrated in the eastern provinces of Shandong and Anhui, where farmers churn out thousands of tons of foie gras by force-feeding ducks and geese to enlarge their livers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
The primary means by which Meta has encouraged adoption of its A.I. can be generously described as digital force-feeding.
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2025
After six games, it was time to start force-feeding the rookie at least a bit to try to speed up his development.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2023
This was in response to the treatment of suffragettes in prison, including the force-feeding of hunger strikers.
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2023
Lucy Burns had experienced force-feeding in England, so she knew what to expect.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
