repel Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb cause to move back by force or influence
    repulse; beat back; drive; push back; force back.
    • repel the enemy
    • push back the urge to smoke
    • beat back the invaders
  2. verb be repellent to; cause aversion in
    repulse.
  3. verb force or drive back
    repulse; drive back; rebuff; fight off.
    • repel the attacker
    • fight off the onslaught
    • rebuff the attack
  4. verb reject outright and bluntly
    snub; rebuff.
    • She snubbed his proposal
  5. verb fill with distaste
    gross out; revolt; disgust.
    • This spoilt food disgusts me

WordNet

Re**pel" transitive verb
Etymology
L. repellere, repulsum; pref. re- re- + pellere to drive. See Pulse a beating, and cf. Repulse, Repeal.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Repelled present participle & verbal noun Repelling
Definitions
  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.
Re*pel" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To act with force in opposition to force impressed; to exercise repulsion.

Webster 1913