To urge someone means to strongly encourage or try to persuade them to do something. When you urge your friend to try out for the school play, you're pushing them with real conviction, believing they should do it. A coach might urge their team to keep fighting in the final minutes of a close game, or a parent might urge their child to finish homework before playing outside.

The word carries a sense of earnestness and insistence. You're not casually mentioning an idea; you're pressing for it because you think it matters. A teacher who urges students to read more genuinely wants them to understand how important reading is, speaking with passion and persistence.

Urge can also be a noun meaning a strong desire or impulse. When you feel an urge to laugh during a serious moment, you're experiencing a powerful inner push that's hard to resist. Some urges are physical, like the urge to scratch an itch. Others are emotional, like the urge to tell the truth when you've made a mistake. These internal urges can feel almost like someone inside your mind is urging you to act.