Meanings
verbforce someone's hand (third-person singular simple present forces someone's hand, present participle forcing someone's hand, simple past and past participle forced someone's hand)
present singular third person forces someone's hand · participle present forcing someone's hand · participle past forced someone's hand · past forced someone's hand
- idiomaticBring about a situation which necessitates an agent to act, often causing a plan to be executed prematurely.
Origin
A metaphorical reference to card games.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 逼上梁山
- 逼上梁山 (bīshàngliángshān)to bring about a situation
Finnish pakottaa toimimaan
- pakottaa toimimaanto bring about a situation
French forcer la main
- forcer la mainto bring about a situation
Italian forzare la mano
- forzare la manoto bring about a situation
Spanish forzar la mano
- forzar la manoto bring about a situation
Cite this entry
APA
force someone's hand. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/force%20someone's%20hand
MLA
“force someone's hand.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/force%20someone's%20hand. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “force someone's hand,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/force%20someone's%20hand.
Source: force someone's hand on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.