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against one's will
Idioms and Phrases
Without one's consent, forcibly, as in The defendant knew he could not be made to testify against his will . Originally one meaning of will was “acquiescence” or “consent,” but this sense survives only in this idiom, which today nearly always implies some use of force. [c. 1400]Example Sentences
It could involve being held against one’s will or someone simply saying, “I don’t want to participate in group sex, and now I’m being forced to.”
"The government's position is that under no circumstances should North Koreans living abroad be forcibly repatriated against their will. Forced repatriation against one's will is a violation of the international norm of non-refoulement," said Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for the South's Unification Ministry.
Barrett didn't think twice about the immense amount of suffering this would cause other women — the pain and suffering of childbirth, the months of nosy questions about a pregnant body, the stress at work and at home from being pregnant against one's will.
For people with undesired pregnancies, being forced to give birth against one’s will during a time of extraordinary social isolation, economic collapse, and health care deficiencies is nothing short of abuse.
There is little glamour or heroism in being forced to have sex against one’s will, and the emotional fallout from “undercover relationships” has rightly proved a scandal in recent years.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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