noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of expulsion
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin expulsiōn- (stem of expulsiō ), equivalent to expuls ( us ) driven out (past participle of expellere to expel ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Don't ever make a joke about a bomb on an airplane, if you don't want to risk expulsion. Expulsion is being kicked out of something, like a club, a school, or an airplane. If a Girl Scout ate all the cookies she'd already sold, she might face expulsion from her Girl Scout troop, and an unruly high school student who threatens to hit a teacher risks expulsion from school. Historically, many religious and minority groups faced expulsion from countries where their beliefs weren't tolerated. In fact, the Latin root word of expulsion is expellere, "to drive out."
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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:
What followed varied by country: street violence and official harassment in some, expulsion and confiscated property in others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
No sanction has yet been announced but City could face substantial points deductions, a fine or even expulsion from the Premier League.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Since then, the university has investigated the “Cornell Seven”—the seven frat brothers directly involved—and imposed discipline ranging from expulsion to compulsory essay writing.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
Potential punishments range from fines and points deductions to expulsion from the league.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
On the third Sunday after Snowball’s expulsion, the animals were somewhat surprised to hear Napoleon announce that the windmill was to be built after all.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
A new centre would help EU countries plan and coordinate expulsions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
Gleizes's arrest also came during a period of heightened diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria, marked by the withdrawal of ambassadors and reciprocal expulsions of diplomats.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
As part of its account of its prior investigation of the case, Cornell says: "At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell."
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Discipline included expulsions and suspensions as well as assigned essays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
The e-mailed stories ranged from suspensions and expulsions for “antisocial behavior” to censorship of student publications to new restrictions on computing, Web browsing, and especially gaming.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
