urge
Americanverb (used with object)
-
urges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
urged,
past participle, past
-
urging
present participle
-
to push or force along; impel with force or vigor.
to urge the cause along.
- Antonyms:
- deter
-
to drive with incitement to speed or effort.
to urge dogs on with shouts.
- Antonyms:
- deter
-
to press, push, or hasten (the course, activities, etc.).
to urge one's escape.
- Antonyms:
- deter
-
to impel, constrain, or move to some action.
urged by necessity.
- Antonyms:
- discourage
-
to endeavor to induce or persuade, as by entreaties; entreat or exhort earnestly.
to urge a person to greater caution.
- Antonyms:
- discourage
-
to press (something) upon the attention.
to urge a claim.
-
to insist on, allege, or assert with earnestness.
to urge the need of haste.
- Synonyms:
- asseverate, aver
-
to press by persuasion or recommendation, as for acceptance, performance, or use; recommend or advocate earnestly.
to urge a plan of action.
verb (used without object)
-
urges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
urged,
past participle, past
-
urging
present participle
-
to exert a driving or impelling force; give an impulse to haste or action.
Hunger urges.
-
to make entreaties or earnest recommendations.
-
to press arguments or allegations, as against a person, action, or cause.
The senator urged against the confirmation of the appointment.
noun
-
urges
plural
-
an act of urging; impelling action, influence, or force; impulse.
-
an involuntary, natural, or instinctive impulse.
the sex urge.
verb
-
(tr) to plead, press, or move (someone to do something)
we urged him to surrender
-
(tr; may take a clause as object) to advocate or recommend earnestly and persistently; plead or insist on
to urge the need for safety
-
(tr) to impel, drive, or hasten onwards
he urged the horses on
-
archaic (tr) to stimulate, excite, or incite
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
urgesimple
-
urgessimple
-
have urgedperfect
-
has urgedperfect
-
am urgingprogressive
-
are urgingprogressive
-
is urgingprogressive
-
have been urgingperfect progressive
-
has been urgingperfect progressive
Past
-
urgedsimple
-
had urgedperfect
-
was urgingprogressive
-
were urgingprogressive
-
had been urgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of urge
First recorded in 1550–60, urge is from the Latin word urgēre to press, force, drive, urge
Explanation
If you have an urge to eat candy, you really want to eat those sweets. Your mother might urge you to wait until after dinner. As a noun, urge means a desire. As a verb, it means to strongly encourage. Urge is related to the word, urgent, or 'pressing.' An urge is a pressing want, one that is almost a compulsion, like when you're so frustrated, you have the urge to scream. If you urge someone to do something, you feel strongly about it. You might urge a friend to wear an orange shirt not because you happen to like orange, but because they're walking in the woods during hunting season.
Vocabulary lists containing urge
Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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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.
See Examples For:
The book starts with a quick tour of psychoanalytic notions about the urge to collect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The new language proposal - similar to one already in force in the capital Kyiv and some other cities – would urge but not require private premises including shops and cafes to adopt the ban.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Police urge anyone with information about Gallagher’s location to contact them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
While I understand the urge to request money, foot the bill and learn from this experience.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
But fighting the unrelenting urge to flee drained my energy and spirits more than my work did.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
The bill also urges the U.S. to pursue international agreements to prevent superintelligence from being developed anywhere in the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
He says neighbourhood officers have increased by 49% in a year, which is significant, and urges people to get in touch with him if they continue to have issues.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
It urges member states to use the new map in place of the traditional Mercator projection, which was designed for maritime navigation by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Hong said he urges students to embrace failure as a learning tool—ideally while using a safety harness and cushions on the floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Now he urges Ma to work harder than the other new women in the community.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
The German fitness company acknowledged the "legitimate concerns" but urged people not to direct their frustration at the athlete herself.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
And when he did, he grinned at his supporters again and urged them to make themselves heard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Assistant Chief Constable Tony Rowlinson urged anyone who recognised the six men to contact police.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Taylor Swift’s not so swift brother-in-law, podcaster and former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, urged sending sealable mugs of urine to data centers in a viral advertisement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
She set the picnic hamper on a pew and urged me to sit down.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s weekend urging of an AI slowdown was backed by Altman as well as Elon Musk and Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
They all add up to a chorus of serious voices urging a slowdown, but although it might sound like a quick fix, it is far from an easy solution.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
But governments should not sit on their hands when it comes to regulating AI, he added, urging an "agile" approach as AI development accelerates.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
He said he was urging data-center clients to consider using other investment tax breaks offered by states for companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
They were indeed coming, with Hymir at their rear, urging them on: all the giants of that part of the world, a many-headed monstrous bunch, the giants of the waste, misshapen and deadly.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
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.
