COMPEL (compelled, compelling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: compelled    , compelling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does compel mean? 

• COMPEL (verb)
  The verb COMPEL has 2 senses:

1. force somebody to do something

2. necessitate or exact

  Familiarity information: COMPEL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMPEL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they compel    ... he / she / it compels   
Past simple: compelled   
Past participle: compelled   
-ing form: compelling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Force somebody to do something

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

compel; obligate; oblige

Context example:

We compel all students to fill out this form

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

cause; get; have; induce; make; stimulate (cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner)

Cause:

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

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

force; thrust (impose urgently, importunately, or inexorably)

walk (make walk)

coerce; force; hale; pressure; squeeze (to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means)

clamor (compel someone to do something by insistent clamoring)

condemn (compel or force into a particular state or activity)

shame (compel through a sense of shame)

apply; enforce; implement (ensure observance of laws and rules)

constrain; enforce; impose (compel to behave in a certain way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They compel him to write the letter

Derivation:

compulsion (using force to cause something to occur)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Necessitate or exact

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

the water shortage compels conservation

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

ask; call for; demand; involve; necessitate; need; postulate; require; take (require as useful, just, or proper)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

 Context examples 

Had the windlass been in order it would not have been so difficult; as it was, I was compelled to apply all my weight and strength to every inch of the heaving.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He walked around the deck until that hurt too much, then sat in his chair until he was compelled to walk again.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He was compelled to think this thought, or else there would not be any use to strive, and he would have lain down and died.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

And again the princess was compelled to do servant’s work until cock-crow.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The signs so far are indirect, mainly its gravitational footprints, but that adds up to a compelling case nonetheless.

(The Super-Earth that Came Home for Dinner, NASA)

This project may come from work or it may come from deep inside you, stemming from an idea that you are passionate about and feel compelled to create.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The government was compelled, therefore, to use smaller and less suitable vessels for sending out their prisoners.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Stanley Hopkins had laid his hand upon her arm and claimed her as his prisoner, but she waved him aside gently, and yet with an over-mastering dignity which compelled obedience.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They laid me on a couch, I motioned for air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your chance.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With the exception of Lip-lip, they were compelled to hunch together for mutual protection against the terrible enemy they had made.

(White Fang, by Jack London)