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.
to annul or rescind officially (something previously ordered); revoke
these laws were repealed
obsolete to call back (a person) from exile
1275–1325; Middle English repelen < Anglo-French repeler, equivalent to re- re- + ( a ) peler to appeal
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used in the context of law: When a government decides to get rid of an ordinance or law, that ordinance or law is repealed. That means it is no longer in effect, like if the weather becomes unseasonably hot, the schools might repeal the part of the dress code to permit students to wear shorts.
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Repeal of the Iraq War authorizations goes next to the House.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 29, 2023
“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
Repeal describes the act by which the legislature of a state sets aside a law which it had previously enacted.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah
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.
