REPEL (repelled, repelling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: repelled    , repelling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does repel mean? 

• REPEL (verb)
  The verb REPEL has 5 senses:

1. cause to move back by force or influence

2. be repellent to; cause aversion in

3. force or drive back

4. reject outright and bluntly

5. fill with distaste

  Familiarity information: REPEL used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REPEL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they repel    ... he / she / it repels   
Past simple: repelled   
Past participle: repelled   
-ing form: repelling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to move back by force or influence

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

beat back; drive; force back; push back; repel; repulse

Context example:

beat back the invaders

Hypernyms (to "repel" is one way to...):

force; push (move with force)

Verb group:

drive (cause to move rapidly by striking or throwing with force)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Antonym:

attract (direct toward itself or oneself by means of some psychological power or physical attributes)

Derivation:

repulsive (possessing the ability to repel)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be repellent to; cause aversion in

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

repel; repulse

Hypernyms (to "repel" is one way to...):

displease (give displeasure to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "repel"):

churn up; disgust; nauseate; revolt; sicken (cause aversion in; offend the moral sense of)

put off; turn off (cause to feel intense dislike or distaste)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to repel Sue

Antonym:

attract (be attractive to)

Derivation:

repellant (a chemical substance that repels animals)

repellant (highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust)

repellant (serving or tending to repel)

repellent (a chemical substance that repels animals)

repellent (highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust)

repulsive (so extremely ugly as to be terrifying)

repulsive (offensive to the mind)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Force or drive back

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

drive back; fight off; rebuff; repel; repulse

Context example:

rebuff the attack

Hypernyms (to "repel" is one way to...):

defend; fight; fight back; fight down; oppose (fight against or resist strongly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

repulsive (possessing the ability to repel)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Reject outright and bluntly

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

rebuff; repel; snub

Context example:

She snubbed his proposal

Hypernyms (to "repel" is one way to...):

disdain; freeze off; pooh-pooh; reject; scorn; spurn; turn down (reject with contempt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Fill with distaste

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

disgust; gross out; repel; revolt

Context example:

This spoilt food disgusts me

Hypernyms (to "repel" is one way to...):

excite; stimulate; stir (stir feelings in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "repel"):

nauseate; sicken; turn one's stomach (upset and make nauseated)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

repellant (highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust)

repellant (serving or tending to repel)

repellent (highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust)

repulsive (so extremely ugly as to be terrifying)

repulsive (offensive to the mind)

 Context examples 

They also reported the coating repels bacteria, which has implications for preventing the spread of disease and certainly reduces smells.

(Materials scientists invent new coating for self-cleaning, water-efficient toilets, Wikinews)

But terrible indeed was the cost at which the last had been repelled.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Painful recollections will intrude which cannot, which ought not, to be repelled.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Upon placing the magnet erect, with its attracting end towards the earth, the island descends; but when the repelling extremity points downwards, the island mounts directly upwards.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I have merely to observe, that I am not aware that it is any business of theirs, and that I repel that exhibition of feeling with scorn, and with defiance!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

His confession, told in frankness, with the spirit of revolt behind, had repelled her.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A team from the University of Cambridge has found that as they move, sand dunes interact with and repel their downstream neighbours.

(Sand dunes can ‘communicate’ with each other, University of Cambridge)

It has been used for inducing abortions, repelling fleas and ticks, and for treating illnesses of the digestive system.

(Pennyroyal Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

For a handsome and not an unamiable-looking man, he repelled me exceedingly: there was no power in that smooth-skinned face of a full oval shape: no firmness in that aquiline nose and small cherry mouth; there was no thought on the low, even forehead; no command in that blank, brown eye.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A team of researchers at McMaster University has developed a self-cleaning surface that can repel all forms of bacteria, preventing the transfer of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and other dangerous bacteria in settings ranging from hospitals to kitchens.

(Scientists Create Superbug-Resistant Self-Cleaning Surface, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)