violently, adv.
(ˈvaɪələntlɪ)
[f. violent a. + -ly2.]
1. By means of physical strength or violence; by the exercise of improper or unlawful force; forcibly. Now Obs. or arch.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxii. 29 Puplis of the loond..violentli rauysheden the nedi man, and tourmentiden the pore man. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) viii. 91 And there was oure Lord..scourged and smytten and vylently entreted. c 1440 Jacob's Well 16 Be þis artycle are þey vnderstonde acursyd þat stelyn or beryn violently out of holy cherche holy cherch good. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 254 How violently and without all..pite they racked that blessed body. 1535 Coverdale Lev. v. 23 He shal restore agayne that he toke violently awaye, or gat wrongeously. 1582 N. T. (Rhem.) John vi. Annotations, Not compelling or violently forcing any against their will. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows ii. §7. 142 What is violently or fraudulently gotten, wilbe lavishly spent. 1695 Ld. Preston Boeth. i. 32 If thou hadst rather be thought to have been violently remov'd, thou hast done thyself this Injury. 1786 Burke W. Hastings Wks. 1842 II. 108 After he had..unjustly and violently expelled the rajah Cheyt Sing..from his said lordship. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxxiii, To restore the banners of the community, which you took violently from the town. |
b. With other than physical violence; in some illegal, unwarrantable, or improper manner.
| 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1580) 16 Neither can any Lawe bee able, violently to force the inwarde thought of man. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 216 Luther was in dede condemned at Rome, but his cause not heard, violently and tyrannically. 1626 Gouge Serm. Dignity Chivalry §1 The forenamed point, The Dignity of Chivalry, is not violently wrested, but properly ariseth out of my Text. 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps iv. §18. 108 You will infect that form itself with the vulgarity of the thing to which you have violently attached it. |
2. By or with great or extreme force, strength, or vigour; with impetuous or violent motion or action; so as to produce a violent effect.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 25 Þeyh al an oost stood by þe pond and torned þe face thiderward, þe water wolde drawe hem violentliche toward þe pond. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2571 With þe venymous swerde a vayne has he towchede! That voydes so violently þat alle his witte changede! a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 54 Som tyme a man is smytyn som party of þe legge violently without wondyng of þe skynne. Ibid. 65 Þis [remedy]..wirkeþ noȝt so violently as puluis sine pari for þe vertgrez þat entreþ not here. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xi. xiii. (Caxton) 398 Though a bledder be lyghte yet it makyth grete noyse and sowne yf it be strongly blowen and afterwarde vyolently broken. c 1535 M. Nisbet Prol. Rom. (S.T.S.) III. 339 The greattest appetite ouircumis the less, and charyis the man avay vyolently with hir. 1595 Locrine ii. v. 66 The currents swift swimme violently with blood. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 30/2 If the Arterye be greate, and violently beateth. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 351 The streame shooting violently ouer their heads without wetting them. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 69 At 10 deg. mounture, [the gun] carries the Bullet violently 248 Paces. 1711 Budgell Spect. No. 161. ¶3 An huge brawny Fellow, who twirled him about, and shook the little Man so violently, that [etc.]. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 132 When it is kindled by fire, it rarifies, and is violently dilated. 1777 R. Watson Philip II, xxi. (1839) 449 The ships were driven violently against each other. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xxvi, The bells rang violently through the house. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. i. 48 The chlorinated derivatives of Dutch liquid are violently decomposed by potassium. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 211 The windows shook violently. |
3. With great intensity or severity; to a high degree or pitch; intensely, severely.
| 14.. Brut ii. 328 Grete..hetes, & þerewiþal a grete pestilens..destroyed & slow, violently & strongly, both men & wymmen without noumbre. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 136 Lest soaking Show'rs shou'd pierce her secret Seat, Or scorching Suns too violently heat. 1724 Lond. Gaz. No. 6306/2 The Small Pox are come out very violently on the Queen Widow. 1745 Life Bamfylde-Moore Carew 34 Violently afflicted with the Sea-sickness. 1802 Arab. Nts. (1815) II. 172 He wept most violently. 1842 Thackeray Fitz-Boodle's Prof. Misc. Wks. 1857 IV. 6 The consequence was that I became so violently ill as to be reported intoxicated. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 351 The civil war..broke forth again more violently than before. |
b. In intensive or emphatic use: To a very great or extreme degree or extent; very greatly, powerfully, or strongly.
| 1601 Sir W. Cornwallis Disc. Seneca (1631) 43 It is no charity to give so violently as to lay waste the maine of an estate. 1621 Fletcher Isl. Princ. iii. i, I may be mad, or violently drunk. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India I. i. i. 3 This splendid fortune had violently attracted the attention of Europe. 1845 Dickens Chimes i. ¶1 A great multitude of persons will be violently astonished. 1869 Eng. Mech. 19 Nov. 224/3 We see it [an ellipse] violently foreshortened. |
4. Strongly, in respect of feeling; with deep feeling or emotion; ardently, passionately, vehemently.
| 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 55 My selfe weary of expecting companions, and violently carried with the desire to returne into my Countrey, did all alone..passe ouer the Alpes. 1682 Norris Hierocles 35 Not violently agitated by our domestick passions. 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. vi, He then desired to know..how it came to pass that people were so violently bent upon getting into this assembly. 1780 Mirror No. 78, As I was not violently inclined towards literature. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 90 Upon which the man..became violently enraged. 1906 Lit. World 15 Nov. 492/1 Her work..throws her in contact with a fiery young idealist,..and she falls violently in love with him. |
5. colloq. In a flashy or showy manner; ‘loudly’.
| 1782 F. Burney Diary 15 Dec., She was violently dressed,—a large hoop,..ribands and ornaments extremely shown. |