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Definition of "violence" []

  • Physical force exerted for the purpose of violating, damaging, or abusing: crimes of violence. (noun)
  • The act or an instance of violent action or behavior. (noun)
  • Intensity or severity, as in natural phenomena; untamed force: the violence of a tornado. (noun)
  • Abusive or unjust exercise of power. (noun)
  • Abuse or injury to meaning, content, or intent: do violence to a text. (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.

Use "violence" in a sentence
  • "More media coverage around domestic violence in order to “break the silence and stop the violence”."
  • "This shows to what extent Sartre is unaware of his basic disagreement with Marx on the question of violence, especially when he states that "irrepressible violence… is man recreating himself," that it is "mad fury" through which "the wretched of the earth" can "become men.""
  • "However, having regard to the trial judge's reasons as a whole, and considering both the content of some of S's speeches already mentioned, and the broad latitude allowed by the defence of fair comment, the defamatory imputation that while S would not engage in violence herself she “would condone violence” by others, is an opinion that could honestly have been expressed on the proved facts by a person prejudiced, exaggerated or obstinate in his views."