Definition of "compulsory" []

• Obligatory; required: a compulsory examination. (adjective)
• Employing or exerting compulsion; coercive. (adjective)
• Sports An element, such as a dive or school figure, required of all competitors in an athletic competition. Often used in the plural. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The term compulsory, if it has any meaning at all, means that the person has no choice about it."
• "So I was annoyed but not surprised to learn this week that: "State school pupils are set to be taught Islamic traditions and values in compulsory citizenship lessons.""
• "It recommends that governmental control over syllabuses be reduced and that the topics covered in compulsory mathematics education be made more rigorous, to encourage independent thinking and problem solving."