force-feed

English

Alternative forms

• force feed, forcefeed

Verb

force-feed (third-person singular simple present force-feeds, present participle force-feeding, simple past and past participle force-fed)

1. To force a person or animal to ingest food, for example by stuffing food down the throat, or using a tube passed into the stomach.

   They were ordered to force-feed the prisoners on hunger strike.

2. More broadly, also referring to forcing the drinking of a beverage or other liquid
   • 1968, Gil Orlovitz, Milkbottle H., page 16:

     Mr and Mrs Rakmil, are rocking him back and forth on the carpet while Mrs Brody Nina's mother is trying to forcefeed him with another beer bottle.

   • May 2013 Zoya Pirzad, "Things We Left Unsaid" page 277

     I finally poured water in a glass and shouted at him, "Keep your cool, man! You're more scared than the rest of us." And I force-fed him the water.

   • August 2013 Vince Seim, "A Mortal Mistake" page 422

     Frederick collapsed upon the stone, coughing up all the water Aerox had force-fed him.

   • December 2014 Tim Winton, "Cloud Street" page 88

     He remembers the sound of Fish thrashing under the net, how he was forcefed river until he was still and dead and trampled on by his own frightened kin.

   • April 2015 Heather Burch, "Summer by Summer" page 116

     Over the next two days, Bray's fever returned, left, and returned again. I'd force-fed him enough water to keep him alive, but the supply was dwindling and he lost so much when he had the bouts of sweating, I knew we were hitting a danger zone.

3. To force someone to take in information or accept an ideology.

   The teachers at this school tend to force-feed their students information, rather than encourage critical thinking and debate.

Translations

force a person or animal to ingest food

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 強行餵食／强行喂食 (qiángxíng wèishí)

• Finnish: pakkosyöttää
• French: gaver (fr), alimenter de force
• German: zwangsernähren (de)
• Russian: принуди́тельно корми́ть (prinudítelʹno kormítʹ)
• Swedish: tvångsmata

force someone to take in information

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 填鴨式地灌輸／填鸭式地灌输 (tiányāshì de guànshū)

• Finnish: pakkosyöttää
• Russian: пи́чкать (ru) (píčkatʹ)
• Swedish: tvångsmata

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: gaver (fr)
• German: zwangsernähren (de)