forced march

American  

noun

Military.

1. any march that is longer than troops are accustomed to and maintained at a faster pace than usual, generally undertaken for a particular objective under emergency conditions.

---

forced march British  

noun

1. military a march in which normal needs are subordinated to the need for speed

---

Etymology

Origin of forced march

First recorded in 1760–70

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

forced march

The same logic dictates the "forced march" the hopefuls must undergo -- the final exercise required to earn the paratrooper's beret.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

One word encapsulates this forced march of slaves westward, along with a disproportionate part of the Black role in America’s economic emergence: cotton.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2025

Saving and paying for college is an endurance test, a forced march on an often 50-year parade, where strange numerical codes and senseless jumbles of letters mark a route that Waze can’t map.

From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2024

He had just arrived by bus from Pirot on the Serbia-Bulgaria border, he said, after a gruelling 25-day forced march across Bulgaria.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2023

Teenagers and some younger children run to keep up with Sheriff Jim Clark, leading in a police car, during a two-and-a-half hour forced march out of Selma into the countryside.

From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---