Adjacent Words

Quell definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

QUELL, v.t.
1. To crush; to subdue; to cause to cease; as, to quell an insurrection or sedition.
2. To quiet; to allay; to reduce to peace; as, to quell the tumult of the soul.
3. To subdue; to reduce.
This quell'd her pride.
QUELL, v.i. To die; to abate.
QUELL, n. Murder. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: suppress or crush completely; "squelch any sign of dissent"; "quench a rebellion" [syn: squelch, quell, quench]
2: overcome or allay; "quell my hunger" [syn: quell, stay, appease]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, to kill, quell, from Old English cwellan to kill; akin to Old High German quellen to torture, kill, qu?la torment, Lithuanian gelti to hurt Date: 13th century 1. to thoroughly overwhelm and reduce to submission or passivity <quell a riot> 2. quiet, pacify <quell fears> • queller noun II. noun Etymology: Middle English, from quellen to kill Date: 15th century 1. obsolete slaughter 2. archaic the power of quelling

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 a crush or put down (a rebellion etc.). b reduce (rebels etc.) to submission. 2 suppress (fear, anger, etc.). Derivatives: queller n. (also in comb.). Etymology: OE cwellan kill f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quell Quell, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Quelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Quelling.] [See Quail to cower.] 1. To die. [Obs.] Yet he did quake and quaver, like to quell. --Spenser. 2. To be subdued or abated; to yield; to abate. [R.] Winter's wrath begins to quell. --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quell Quell, v. t. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.] 1. To take the life of; to kill. [Obs.] --Spenser. The ducks cried as [if] men would them quelle. --Chaucer. 2. To overpower; to subdue; to put down. The nation obeyed the call, rallied round the sovereign, and enabled him to quell the disaffected minority. --Macaulay. Northward marching to quell the sudden revolt. --Longfellow. 3. To quiet; to allay; to pacify; to cause to yield or cease; as, to quell grief; to quell the tumult of the soul. Much did his words the gentle lady quell. --Spenser. Syn: to subdue; crush; overpower; reduce; put down; repress; suppress; quiet; allay; calm; pacify.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quell Quell, n. Murder. [Obs.] --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(quells, quelling, quelled) 1. To quell opposition or violent behaviour means to stop it. Troops eventually quelled the unrest. VERB: V n 2. If you quell an unpleasant feeling such as fear or anger, you stop yourself or other people from having that feeling. The Information Minister is trying to quell fears of a looming oil crisis. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Subdue, suppress, crush, overcome, put down, overpower. 2. Repress, restrain, check, smother, stifle, extinguish, quench, curb, bridle, lay, rein in. 3. Quiet, calm, still, compose, lull, hush, tranquillize, pacify, allay, reduce to peace, subdue. 4. Moderate, assuage, mitigate, allay, appease, alleviate, mollify, soften, dull, soothe, blunt, deaden.

Moby Thesaurus

allay, alleviate, annihilate, appease, asphyxiate, assuage, beat down, bend, bottle up, break, break down, bring low, bring to terms, calm, calm down, censor, choke, choke off, clamp down on, compose, conquer, cool, cork, cork up, crack down on, cradle, crush, damp down, drown, dulcify, ease, even out, extinguish, fell, flatten, gag, gentle, hold down, humble, humiliate, hush, jump on, keep down, keep under, kill, lull, master, mitigate, moderate, mollify, muzzle, overcome, overmaster, override, overwhelm, pacify, pour balm into, pour water on, prostrate, put down, put out, quash, quench, quiet, reduce, repress, rest, ride down, rock, rock to sleep, shut down on, silence, sit down on, sit on, smash, smooth, smooth down, smooth over, smoothen, smother, snuff out, soothe, squash, squelch, stabilize, stamp out, stanch, steady, stifle, still, strangle, stultify, subdue, subjugate, suffocate, suppress, throttle, trample down, trample out, trample underfoot, tranquilize, tread underfoot, tyrannize, unman, vanquish