urge

/ərdʒ/

/ədʒ/

Other forms: urged; urging; urges

If you have an urge to eat candy, you really want to eat those sweets. Your mother might urge you to wait until after dinner. As a noun, urge means a desire. As a verb, it means to strongly encourage.

Urge is related to the word, urgent, or 'pressing.' An urge is a pressing want, one that is almost a compulsion, like when you're so frustrated, you have the urge to scream. If you urge someone to do something, you feel strongly about it. You might urge a friend to wear an orange shirt not because you happen to like orange, but because they're walking in the woods during hunting season.

Definitions of urge

1. verb

   force or impel in an indicated direction
   “I urged him to finish his studies”

   synonyms: exhort, press, urge on

   types:

   hurry, rush

   urge to an unnatural speed

   bear on, push

   press, drive, or impel (someone) to action or completion of an action

   advocate, preach

   speak, plead, or argue in favor of

   nudge

   push into action by pestering or annoying gently

   moralise, moralize, preachify, sermonise, sermonize

   speak as if delivering a sermon; express moral judgements

   bull, bull through

   push or force

   type of:

   advise, counsel, rede

   give advice to
2. verb

   push for something
   synonyms: advocate, recommend

   type of:

   advise, propose, suggest

   make a proposal, declare a plan for something
3. verb

   spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts
   synonyms: barrack, cheer, exhort, inspire, pep up, root on, urge on

   types:

   cheerlead

   act as a cheerleader in a sports event

   type of:

   encourage

   inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to
4. noun

   an instinctive motive
   synonyms: impulse

   types:

   abience

   (psychology) an urge to withdraw or avoid a situation or an object

   adience

   (psychology) an urge to accept or approach a situation or an object

   Thanatos, death instinct, death wish

   (psychoanalysis) an unconscious urge to die

   itchy feet, wanderlust

   very strong or irresistible impulse to travel

   type of:

   motivation, motive, need

   the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
5. noun

   a strong, restless desire
   “why this urge to travel?”

   synonyms: itch

   type of:

   desire

   the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state