compulsion

Definition

An irrational need or irresistible urge to perform some action, often despite negative consequences.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French compulsion, from Late Latin compulsiō, from Latin compellere (“to compel, coerce”); see compel.

Example Sentences

• "During the basketball game, I had a sudden compulsion to have a smoke."
• "It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […]."
• "From the opening of the City & South London Railway independent electric locomotives were used under compulsion of the Board of Trade."

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