repeal
verb (used with object)
to revoke or withdraw formally or officially.
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Repai.
repeal
American
[ri-peel]
/ rɪˈpil /
verb (used with object)
-
repeals,
present (3rd person singular)
-
repealed,
past participle, past
-
repealing
present participle
-
to revoke or withdraw formally or officially.
to repeal a grant.
-
to revoke or annul (a law, tax, duty, etc.) by express legislative enactment; abrogate.
- Synonyms:
- invalidate, rescind, abolish, nullify
noun
repeal
1
British
/ rɪˈpiːl /
verb
-
to annul or rescind officially (something previously ordered); revoke
these laws were repealed
-
obsolete to call back (a person) from exile
noun
Repeal
2
British
/ rɪˈpiːl /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
repealabilitynoun
-
repealablenessnoun
-
repealernoun
-
unrepealabilitynoun
-
nonrepealableadjective
-
repealableadjective
-
unrepealableadjective
-
unrepealedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
repealsimple
-
repealssimple
-
have repealedperfect
-
has repealedperfect
-
am repealingprogressive
-
are repealingprogressive
-
is repealingprogressive
-
have been repealingperfect progressive
-
has been repealingperfect progressive
Past
-
repealedsimple
-
had repealedperfect
-
was repealingprogressive
-
were repealingprogressive
-
had been repealingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of repeal
1275–1325; Middle English repelen < Anglo-French repeler, equivalent to re- re- + ( a ) peler to appeal
Explanation
To repeal something — usually a law, ordinance or public policy — is to take it back. For example, dog lovers might want the town council to repeal the law that says residents can have no more than four dogs. The verb repeal comes from the Anglo-French word repeler, “to call back.” Repeal is almost always used in the context of law: When a government decides to get rid of an ordinance or law, that ordinance or law is repealed. That means it is no longer in effect, like if the weather becomes unseasonably hot, the schools might repeal the part of the dress code to permit students to wear shorts.
Vocabulary lists containing repeal
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Vocabulary from the Third and Final Presidential Debate, October 19, 2016
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The American Revolution - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which held the FCC is required by federal law to repeal or modify regulations that are no longer in the public interest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
“The California Constitution requires the legislature to go back to the voters if it wishes to amend or repeal a voter-passed law like Prop. 28.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
There have been hunger strikes demanding farmers' rights, affirmative action, environmental protections, anti-corruption laws and the repeal of controversial security legislation.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Morgan analyst Rajat Gupta noted, the decline is tied to several factors, including the repeal of federal EV tax credits and backlash tied to CEO Elon Musk’s stint in the U.S. federal government.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
As the news of the repeal was broadcast over the radio, stores like New York’s Gimbels and Bloomingdale’s immediately opened their liquor departments.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
Repeal of the law was approved by Congress and then President Barack Obama in late 2010 and took effect nine months later, allowing lesbian, gay and bisexual people to serve openly.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 17, 2022
“They did that through canvassing: going door-to-door, knocking, and having conversations,” said Sinéad Kennedy, a member of Together for Yes’ national executive committee and co-founder of the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2022
Repeal came a few days later on Feb. 1, when Mayor Rolph cited a downturn in infections.
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2020
Back then, it felt like a dream when I sat inside the court listening to both sides argue Petition 150 and Petition 234, now popularly known as Repeal 162.
From BBC ● May 24, 2019
Then the Repeal of the Corn Laws, which settled, once for all, the supremacy of the bourgeoisie, and especially of its most active portion, the manufacturers, over the landed aristocracy.
From Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels
Judges in New York and Washington blocked those repeals and said the high court had given “no explanation” for its decision upholding the repeal for Venezuelans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
Last week, the government introduced a new law that repeals and rebrands the scheme.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2025
A major wave of repeals took place in 1985, when Minnesota, South Carolina, and Texas eliminated their blue laws.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 20, 2025
And these repeals would bar the targeted agency from ever taking a “substantially” similar action again.
From Slate ● May 14, 2025
It repeals in express terms an important part of the Constitution itself and of laws passed to give it effect, which have never been alleged to be unconstitutional.
From A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Volume 2, part 3: Andrew Jackson, 1st term by James D. (James Daniel) Richardson
Because the GPO has been repealed, her teacher’s pension will no longer reduce or eliminate her spousal benefit.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
So many states had repealed so many firearm regulations that the District of Columbia’s stringent handgun ban looked like a true outlier.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
Back in 2021, the government repealed agriculture laws after a year-long protest by farmers.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
By the time Prohibition was repealed in 1933, America was left not sobered, but hungover by its own contradictions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
In the entire history of the United States, no amendment to the US Constitution had ever been repealed.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
“Changing that takes a lot more than repealing a law,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
By repealing Balogun's ban, it can only make life more difficult for them.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
However, repealing the earnings test would likely lead to more people claiming Social Security early, hastening the system’s impending insolvency.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
Meanwhile, New York's Mayor Zohran Mamdani has signed a tongue-in-cheek executive order "temporarily repealing bedtimes" to encourage children to watch the late-night games.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
The ANC drafted a letter to the prime minister advising him of these resolutions and the deadline for repealing the laws.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
