noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing expulsion
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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.
Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds majority, a threshold so high that Congress has wielded the sanction only in the gravest cases, removing just six members in its 237-year history.
From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026
Bill Frelick is refugee rights director at Human Rights Watch and the author of the report “‘Nobody Cared, Nobody Listened’: The US Expulsion of Third-Country Nationals to Panama.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2025
Expulsion requires support from two-third of the House, a purposefully high bar, but a blistering House Ethics Committee report released on Nov. 16 that accused Santos of breaking federal law may prove decisive.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 30, 2023
Expulsion resolutions require the support of at least two-thirds of the chamber to pass.
From Washington Times • Nov. 28, 2023
Expulsion, I thought numbly, as if I had never heard the word before.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
