quell
Americanverb
-
to suppress or beat down (rebellion, disorder, etc); subdue
-
to overcome or allay
to quell pain
to quell grief
Other Word Forms
- quellable adjective
- queller noun
- unquellable adjective
- unquelled adjective
Etymology
Origin of quell
First recorded before 900; Middle English quellen, Old English cwellan “to kill”; akin to Old Norse kvelja “to torment,” German quälen “to vex”; kill 1
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.
Schools, universities and public institutions were closed across the country on Wednesday after a bank holiday was declared by authorities in an apparent effort to quell the unrest.
From BBC
The authorities in the capital, Tehran, had declared Wednesday a bank holiday - in an apparent effort to quell the unrest.
From BBC
But that doesn’t quell the misgivings of some people in the area.
From Los Angeles Times
EV charging projects are part of an effort to reduce emissions and help quell U.S. drivers’ worries that their batteries might run down on the road, known as “range anxiety.”
OCI services major AI technology developers whose demand for Oracle's AI infrastructure helped the company's shares reach new highs this fall but Wednesday's results failed to quell fears about a potential AI bubble.
From BBC
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.
