press-gangs
Coerces into service
Press-gangs were groups authorized to force men into military or naval service, a practice common in Britain from the 17th through early 19th centuries.
The noun also functions as a verb: to press-gang someone is to compel them into service against their will.
In contemporary use, press-gang appears almost exclusively in figurative contexts, meaning to coerce someone into doing something they'd rather not do: I was press-ganged into helping with the move.
Forced military recruitment
- conscriptionMandatory military enrollment
- compulsionIrresistible urge to act
- duressCoercion through threats
- intimidationDeliberate fear-inducing pressure
abduction · seizure · kidnapping · shanghai · ensnarement · capture · snatching · force
Forced military recruitment
- 18th-centuryThe seventeen hundreds
- RegencyProxy rule period
- GeorgianOf four kings' era
- riotsViolent public disturbances
Armed sailing vessel
- frigateMedium-sized naval warship
- warshipsMilitary combat vessels
- sailorsMaritime vessel crew members
- seamenNaval enlisted personnel
crews · quarterdeck · forecastle · bosun · shipmate · merchantmen · harbors · ports
impressment
Forced military recruitment
- conscriptionMandatory military enrollment
- compulsionIrresistible urge to act
- duressCoercion through threats
intimidation · abduction · seizure · kidnapping · shanghai · ensnarement · capture · snatching · force · constraint
impressment
Forced military recruitment
- 18th-centuryThe seventeen hundreds
- RegencyProxy rule period
- GeorgianOf four kings' era
riots · protests · exemptions
man-of-war
Armed sailing vessel
seamen · crews · quarterdeck · forecastle · bosun · shipmate · merchantmen · harbors · ports · taverns
press-gangsvolunteer recruitment
Gathering unpaid service participants
voluntary enlistment · volunteers · enlistees · recruitment offices · volunteer corps
press-gangshiring committees
Bodies selecting job candidates
employment agencies · recruiters · emancipators · liberators · headhunters
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