| 释义 |
by main forceRelated to by main force: water main, force majeure by main forceBy sheer force or physical strength. I couldn't get my car out of the mud until my brothers came along and moved it by main force. See also: by, force, main Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. by main force through sheer strength. Main derives from the Old English word mægen meaning ‘physical force’. As an adjective meaning ‘(of strength or force) exerted to the full’, it is a very ancient usage: mægenstrengo occurs in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. See also: by, force, main Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary See also:- main strength and awkwardness
- hard power
- force in
- be out in force
- force (someone or something) into (something)
- force on
- force on (someone or something)
- haul into (some place)
- jam in
- force down
References in classic literature In sooth, the last part of the nursing depended more upon strength than skill; for it consisted chiefly of holding down the patient, by main force, to his cot. Robin Hood The first man they laid hold of was an English seaman, a stout, strong fellow, who having a musket in his hand, never offered to fire it, but laid it down in the boat, like a fool, as I thought; but he understood his business better than I could teach him, for he grappled the Pagan, and dragged him by main force out of their boat into ours, where, taking him by the ears, he beat his head so against the boat's gunnel that the fellow died in his hands. Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe I turned it toward me, with my own hands, by main force. Law and the Lady Mr Willet, in his frenzy, was so near keeping his word to the very letter (Solomon Daisy's eyes already beginning to roll in an alarming manner, and certain guttural sounds, as of a choking man, to issue from his throat), that the two bystanders, recovering in some degree, plucked him off his victim by main force, and placed the little clerk of Chigwell in a chair. Barnaby Rudge A Tale Of The Riots Of Eighty He completed her affliction by putting a five-dollar bill into her pocket by main force, looking both indignant and resolute as he said Eight Cousins And truly, they were as sturdy and bluff a pair of boots as one would wish to see; as firmly planted on the ground as if their owner's legs and feet had been in them; and seeming, with their broad soles and blunt toes, to hold possession of their place by main force. The Old Curiosity Shop |