compel Meaning, Definition & Usage

verb force somebody to do something
oblige; obligate.
- We compel all students to fill out this form
verb necessitate or exact
- the water shortage compels conservation

L. compellere, compilstum, to drive together, to compel, urge; com- + pellere to drive: cf. OF. compellir. See Pulse.

imperfect & past participle Compelled ; present participle & verbal noun Compelling

To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to force; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force.
Wolsey . . . compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once. Hallam.

And they compel one Simon . . . to bear his cross. Mark xv. 21.
To take by force or violence; to seize; to exact; to extort. R.
Commissions, which compel from each The sixth part of his substance. Shak.
To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
Easy sleep their weary limbs compelled. Dryden.

I compel all creatures to my will. Tennyson.
To gather or unite in a crowd or company. A Latinism "In one troop compelled." Dryden.
To call forth; to summon. Obs. Chapman.
She had this knight from far compelled. Spenser.
Syn. -- To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See Coerce.

To make one yield or submit. "If she can not entreat, I can not compel." Shak.