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.
Acknowledging Jackson’s potential, coaches “tried to force feed him a little bit when we could,” Grinch said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2023
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
Later, his mother tries, and fails, to force-feed her oblivious son the libretto for “Fat.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
His teammates nearly tripped over themselves at times in an effort to force-feed him the puck.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2022
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
If you ever want to torture me, just force-feed me cilantro.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
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
We, the fans, are the people who have been force-fed mistake after mistake.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 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
The Summer Session—a few dozen boys being force-fed education, a stopgap while most of the masters were away and most of the traditions stored against sultriness—the Summer Session was over.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
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
GEO Group did not respond to questions about force-feeding and Gomez’s description of his treatment in the facility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2025
This was in response to the treatment of suffragettes in prison, including the force-feeding of hunger strikers.
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2023
At the same time that he was force-feeding us tribalism we were learning other ways of life, modern ways, from mingling with children whose parents had shed their tribal cloth and embraced Western culture.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
