Synonyms

expel

American

[ik-spel] / ɪkˈspɛl /

verb (used with object)

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

to expel air from the lungs; to expel an invader from a country.
to cut off from membership or relations.

to expel a student from a college.

Synonyms:

excommunicate, exile, dismiss, oust

expel British

/ ˌɛkspɛˈliː, ɪkˈspɛl /

verb

to eject or drive out with force
to deprive of participation in or membership of a school, club, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Present

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Etymology

Origin of expel

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”

Explanation

Getting expelled from a school is a step beyond suspension. It means that you are asked to leave and never come back. In other words, you have been kicked out. More benignly, expel can mean discharge: if you're having a water-fountain spitting-fight, you are hoping to expel water from your mouth in the direction of your opponent before they can get you. But don't do this; you won't get expelled from school, but the germs in your body will be expelled all over your friends.

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Vocabulary lists containing expel

Power Prefix: ex-

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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:

expel expels expelled expelling

The ruling follows France's decision last week to expel Xenia Fedorova and freeze her assets, a move she denounced as "censorship".

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

Representatives from two local tribes draw a parallel between the gather and past efforts to expel their people from their ancestral lands, and say the horses are intertwined with their culture.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

By helping neurons expel excess toxic Tau, Arc appears to allow damaged cells to survive longer.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 30, 2026

The results of this were put before a committee, that included trading standards officers, and it was decided to expel the company from the federation.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

“Sometimes, Commander. Am I in trouble? Did they expel me?”

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

The measure bars or expels foreigners deemed to have "spread or incited hate messages" against the country or its people.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

Desire expels despair, however, when Marty meets his brother’s new bride.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026

After a series of mysterious analog rumblings, the booth expels a tiny strip of prints.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2025

Losing the Conservative whip essentially expels Mr Anderson from his party in Parliament.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2024

It was the mandrake, which fools say expels demons and makes women fruitful, but screams when pulled from the earth.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

The year prior, French journalist Thomas Dietrich was arrested while covering electoral campaigning in Togo and was later expelled from the country, according to the International Press Institute.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

More than 60,000 Canadians have signed a petition calling for the US ambassador in Ottawa to be expelled for undermining diplomatic relations between the two neighbours.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

If a third black hole arrived during another galactic merger, the resulting three-body interaction could have expelled the smallest black hole from the center.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026

Former Afghan soldier Haidary Hamedullah risked his life to cross the Channel hoping for a brighter future for his family in Britain, but just weeks later UK authorities expelled him back to France.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Hagrid wasn’t a fully qualified wizard; he had been expelled from Hogwarts in his third year for a crime he had not committed.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

The U.S. isn’t expelling Brazil’s ambassador, the State Department official said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Their observations show that even when a black hole appears faint, it may still be actively expelling large amounts of matter rather than simply swallowing everything nearby.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

Eventually she broke with her father entirely in 2015, expelling him from the party over his views on the Holocaust.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

That has put pressure on Lebanon’s delicate sectarian balance, with some communities expelling the displaced Shiites or not allowing them to come in the first place for fear of being targeted by Israel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026

But that was before the epidemic, when Massasoit had the option of expelling them.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023