expel

[ik-spel]

verb (used with object)

expelled, expelling 

1. to drive or force out or away; discharge or eject.

   to expel air from the lungs; to expel an invader from a country.

2. to cut off from membership or relations.

   to expel a student from a college.

   Synonyms: excommunicate, exile, dismiss, oust

expel

/ ˌɛkspɛˈliː, ɪkˈspɛl /

verb

1. to eject or drive out with force

2. to deprive of participation in or membership of a school, club, etc

Other Word Forms

• expellable adjective
• reexpel verb (used with object)
• unexpellable adjective
• expellee noun
• expeller noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of expel¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English expellen, from Latin expellere “to drive out, drive away,” equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + pellere “to push, drive”

Word History and Origins

Origin of expel¹

C14: from Latin expellere to drive out, from pellere to thrust, drive

Example Sentences

Washington expelled Bolivia's ambassador in retaliation, and the envoys were never replaced.

Read more on Barron's

Western missionaries were expelled; churches, mosques and temples were brought under state control or shuttered; and clergy who refused to join government-sanctioned “patriotic associations” were imprisoned.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The firm was then expelled by the National Association of Funeral Directors.

Read more on BBC

One of Easton’s friends was expelled for exhibiting similar behaviors, leading Stacks to search for additional help.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Refugee camps were created in the Palestinian territories and in neighbouring Arab countries for Palestinians who fled or were expelled from what is now Israel at the time of the country's creation in 1948.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• ban 
• banish 
• bar 
• dismiss 
• displace 
• eject 
• evict 
• exile 
• oust