Adjacent Words

Repel definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

REPEL', v.t. [l. repello; re and pello, to drive.]
1. to drive back; to force to return; to check advance; as, to repel an enemy or an assailant.
Hippomedon repell'd the hostile tide.
And virtue may repel, though not invade.
2. To resist; to oppose; as, to repel an argument.
REPEL', v.i.
1. To act with force in opposition to force impressed. Electricity sometimes attracts and sometimes repels.
2. In medicine, to check an afflux to a part of the body.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: cause to move back by force or influence; "repel the enemy"; "push back the urge to smoke"; "beat back the invaders" [syn: repel, drive, repulse, force back, push back, beat back] [ant: attract, draw, draw in, pull, pull in]
2: be repellent to; cause aversion in [syn: repel, repulse] [ant: appeal, attract]
3: force or drive back; "repel the attacker"; "fight off the onslaught"; "rebuff the attack" [syn: repel, repulse, fight off, rebuff, drive back]
4: reject outright and bluntly; "She snubbed his proposal" [syn: rebuff, snub, repel]
5: fill with distaste; "This spoilt food disgusts me" [syn: disgust, gross out, revolt, repel]

Merriam Webster's

verb (repelled; repelling) Etymology: Middle English repellen, from Middle French repeller, from Latin repellere, from re- + pellere to drive — more at felt Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. to drive back ; repulse b. to fight against ; resist 2. turn away, reject <repelled the insinuation> 3. a. to drive away ; discourage <foul words and frowns must not repel a lover — Shakespeare> b. to be incapable of adhering to, mixing with, taking up, or holding c. to force away or apart or tend to do so by mutual action at a distance 4. to cause aversion in ; disgust intransitive verb to cause aversion • repeller noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (repelled, repelling) 1 drive back; ward off; repulse. 2 refuse admission or approach or acceptance to (repel an assailant). 3 be repulsive or distasteful to. Derivatives: repeller n. Etymology: ME f. L repellere (as RE-, pellere puls- drive)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Repel Re*pel", v. i. To act with force in opposition to force impressed; to exercise repulsion.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Repel Re**pel" (r?-p?l"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Repelled (-p?ld"); p. pr. & vb. n. Repelling.] [L. repellere, repulsum; pref. re- re- + pellere to drive. See Pulse a beating, and cf. Repulse, Repeal.] 1. To drive back; to force to return; to check the advance of; to repulse as, to repel an enemy or an assailant. Hippomedon repelled the hostile tide. --Pope. They repelled each other strongly, and yet attracted each other strongly. --Macaulay. 2. To resist or oppose effectually; as, to repel an assault, an encroachment, or an argument. [He] gently repelled their entreaties. --Hawthorne. Syn: Tu repulse; resist; oppose; reject; refuse.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(repels, repelling, repelled) 1. When an army repels an attack, they successfully fight and drive back soldiers from another army who have attacked them. (FORMAL) They have fifty thousand troops along the border ready to repel any attack. VERB: V n 2. When a magnetic pole repels another magnetic pole, it gives out a force that pushes the other pole away. You can also say that two magnetic poles repel each other or that they repel. (TECHNICAL) Like poles repel, unlike poles attract... As these electrons are negatively charged they will attempt to repel each other. V-RECIP: pl-n V, V n 3. If something repels you, you find it horrible and disgusting. ...a violent excitement that frightened and repelled her. = revolt VERB: no cont, V n • repelled She was very striking but in some way I felt repelled. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Repulse, drive, beat, or force back. 2. Resist, oppose, check, withstand, confront, parry, rebuff, strive against, make a stand against. 3. Reject, refuse, decline.

Moby Thesaurus

abjure, anticipate, appall, avert, bar, be proof against, bear up, bear up against, beat back, beat off, block, blunt, brush aside, brush off, buck, chase, chase away, chase off, check, chill, chuck, chuck out, combat, contemn, contest, contradict, cool, counter, cut, damp, dampen, debar, decline, deflect, defy, deny, despise, deter, disaffect, disapprove, discard, disclaim, discount, discourage, disdain, disgust, dishearten, disincline, disinterest, dismiss, disown, dispute, disregard, distract, divert, drive away, drive back, duel, endure, estop, except, exclude, fend, fend off, fight, forbid, foreclose, forestall, forswear, give offense, gross out, help, hinder, hold at bay, hold off, hold out, hold up, horrify, ignore, indispose, keep at bay, keep from, keep off, nauseate, obstruct, obviate, offend, oppose, pack off, parry, pass by, pass up, preclude, prevent, prohibit, push aside, push back, put back, put off, quench, rebuff, rebut, recant, refuse, refuse to consider, refuse to receive, reject, reluct, renounce, repudiate, repulse, resist, revolt, rule out, save, scout, send away, send off, send packing, shock, shove away, sicken, snub, spurn, stand, stand up, stave off, stop, throw away, throw out, thrust back, traverse, turn aside, turn away, turn back, turn from, turn off, turn out, turn the stomach, waive, ward off, wean from, withstand