Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

violence

 noun
     
vi‧o‧lence S2 W2 [uncountable]
1 behaviour that is intended to hurt other people physicallyCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
act of violence physical violence domestic violence (=violence between a man and woman in their home) racial/ethnic violence (=violence between different groups of people) use/resort to violence (=behave violently) violence erupts/explodes (=there is suddenly a lot of violence)
There is too much sex and violence on TV these days.
violence against
violence against women
We condemn any act of violence.
refuges for women escaping from domestic violence
Neither side wants to resort to violence.
When marchers gathered on a third day of protest, violence erupted and buildings were burned.
2 extreme force:
the tremendous violence of a tornado
3

do violence to something

formal to spoil something
4 literary an angry way of speaking or reacting:
She spoke with a violence that surprised them both.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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