expel

American

[ik-spel] / ɪkˈspɛl /

verb (used with object)

expelled, expelling

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

Other Word Forms

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

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”

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