Synonyms

forced march

American

noun

Military.

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

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of forced march

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

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

The forced march ordered by Congress removed 80,000 Native Americans from the eastern United States.

From Washington Times • Sep. 21, 2022

Rescued by U.S. troops in 1945 while on a forced march from Dachau, he spent two years in a displaced persons camp before emigrating to the United States in 1947.

From Slate • May 21, 2022

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023