【Force】 ,  【violence】 ,  【compulsion】 ,  【coercion】 ,  【duress】 ,  【constraint】 ,  【restraint】  denote the exercise or the exertion of power in order to impose one’s will on a person or to have one’s will with a thing.

【Force】  and  【violence】  ordinarily apply to physical powers used upon either persons or things;  【compulsion】 ,  【coercion】  ,  【duress】 ,  【constraint】 ,  【restraint】  apply to either physical or moral power used upon personal agents except in certain figurative uses- 【compulsion】 ,  【coercion】 , and  【duress】  usually implying exercise of such power upon others than oneself,  【constraint】  or  【restraint】  upon oneself or others.

【Force】  (see also POWER 1 ) applies to an exercise of physical strength or of power comparable to physical strength by means of which an agent imposes his will upon another against that person’s will or causes a thing to move as desired in spite of its resistance.

【Violence】  is often used in place of  【force】 , then commonly implying a greater display of power or fury and often connoting the infliction of injury or cruelty.

【Violence】 often implies a violation of another’s legal rights or property, or it may imply a corruption or abuse of someone or something entitled to respect, observance, or security.

【Compulsion】  and, still more,  【coercion】 imply the application of physical 【force】 or of moral pressure or the exercise of one’s authority in order to control the action of a voluntary agent and to make him obedient to one’s will.

【Duress】 implies 【compulsion】 to do or forbear some act by means that are illegal (as by imprisonment or threats to imprison or by 【violence】 ). It may also imply 【compulsion】 or 【coercion】 through fear of a penalty that will or may be exacted.

【Constraint】  and  【restraint】  may imply the exercise of physical or moral power either by an active agent or by the 【force】 of circumstances;  【constraint】  sometimes implies an urging or driving to action but more frequently implies its forcible restriction or confinement, whereas  【restraint】 suggests its actual hindrance or curbing.