expel
Americanverb (used with object)
-
expels,
present (3rd person singular)
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expelled,
past participle, past
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expelling
present participle
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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
verb
-
to eject or drive out with force
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to deprive of participation in or membership of a school, club, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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expelleenoun
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expellernoun
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reexpelverb (used with object)
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expellableadjective
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unexpellableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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expelsimple
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expelssimple
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have expelledperfect
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has expelledperfect
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am expellingprogressive
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are expellingprogressive
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is expellingprogressive
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have been expellingperfect progressive
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has been expellingperfect progressive
Past
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expelledsimple
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had expelledperfect
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was expellingprogressive
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were expellingprogressive
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had been expellingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing expel
Power Prefix: ex-
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Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 5
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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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:
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
The court said Finra can’t unilaterally expel or ban a firm from trading stocks without government review.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
"The way the fridges work is to cool everything down and expel the hot air," which normally works well in the ambient air in the UK.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 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
After a minute of nothing happening, I press the expel button.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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
He pats my back loudly and expels me with a shove and a sniff.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Accused men began filing “John Doe” lawsuits, alleging they were being expelled or suspended without due process.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and shut its embassy in Asmara on Thursday, while Eritrea responded that it would "sever all diplomatic ties".
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
It’s not enough that she saw no charges filed, or that reportedly only two of the accused were expelled from campus.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Because of this structure, potassium-rich magma is generally among the first material expelled during an eruption.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
After the Incident, he’d been expelled from his middle school.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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
If VAR had been available, Scottish referee Hugh Dallas could have corrected the missed call, awarding a penalty and giving Frings a red card, expelling him for the final 40 minutes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
As a result, Congress opened an ethics inquiry, and lawmakers were considering expelling the congressman.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
Several times he coughed hard, expelling water, but he kept swimming.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
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.
