official permission or approval; "authority for the program was renewed several times"
the power or right to give orders or make decisions; "he has the authority to issue warrants"; "deputies are given authorization to make arrests"; "a place of potency in the state"
an authoritative written work; "this book is the final authority on the life of Milton"
an expert whose views are taken as definitive; "he is an authority on corporate law"
(usually plural) persons who exercise (administrative) control over others; "the authorities have issued a curfew"
a system of means and activities whereby a social institution functions; "the complex machinery of negotiation"; "the machinery of command labored and brought forth an order"
form into a cylinder by rolling; "Roll up the cloth"
arrive in a vehicle: "He rolled up in a black Mercedes"
get or gather together; "I am accumulating evidence for the man's unfaithfulness to his wife"; "She is amassing a lot of data for her thesis"; "She rolled up a small fortune"
a specified function; "he was employed in the capacity of director"; "he should be retained in his present capacity at a higher salary"
the maximum production possible; "the plant is working at 80 per cent capacity"
tolerance for alcohol; "he had drunk beyond his capacity"
ability to perform or produce
the power to learn or retain knowledge; in law, the ability to understand the facts and significance of your behavior
(computer science) the amount of information (in bytes) that can be stored on a disk drive; "the capacity of a hard disk drive is usually expressed in megabytes"
the amount that can be contained; "the gas tank has a capacity of 12 gallons"
the official act of consigning a person to confinement (as in a prison or mental hospital)
the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; "his long commitment to public service"; "they felt no loyalty to a losing team"
an engagement by contract involving financial obligation; "his business commitments took him to London"
physical energy or intensity; "he hit with all the force he could muster"; "it was destroyed by the strength of the gale"; "a government has not the vitality and forcefulness of a living man"
a powerful effect or influence; "the force of his eloquence easily persuaded them"
a group of people having the power of effective action; "he joined forces with a band of adventurers"
group of people willing to obey orders; "a public force is necessary to give security to the rights of citizens"
(physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity; "force equals mass times acceleration"
impose or thrust urgently, importunately, or inexorably; "She forced her diet fads on him"
do forcibly; exert force; "Don't force it!"
force into or from an action or state, either physically or metaphorically; "She rammed her mind into focus"; "He drives me mad"