repeal
verb (used with object)
to revoke or withdraw formally or officially.
repeal
American
[ri-peel]
/ rɪˈpil /
verb (used with object)
-
repeals,
present (3rd person singular)
-
repealed,
past participle, past
-
repealing
present participle
-
to revoke or withdraw formally or officially.
to repeal a grant.
-
to revoke or annul (a law, tax, duty, etc.) by express legislative enactment; abrogate.
- Synonyms:
- invalidate, rescind, abolish, nullify
noun
repeal
1
British
/ rɪˈpiːl /
verb
-
to annul or rescind officially (something previously ordered); revoke
these laws were repealed
-
obsolete to call back (a person) from exile
noun
Repeal
2
British
/ rɪˈpiːl /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
repealabilitynoun
-
repealablenessnoun
-
repealernoun
-
unrepealabilitynoun
-
nonrepealableadjective
-
repealableadjective
-
unrepealableadjective
-
unrepealedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
repealsimple
-
repealssimple
-
have repealedperfect
-
has repealedperfect
-
am repealingprogressive
-
are repealingprogressive
-
is repealingprogressive
-
have been repealingperfect progressive
-
has been repealingperfect progressive
Past
-
repealedsimple
-
had repealedperfect
-
was repealingprogressive
-
were repealingprogressive
-
had been repealingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of repeal
1275–1325; Middle English repelen < Anglo-French repeler, equivalent to re- re- + ( a ) peler to appeal
Explanation
To repeal something — usually a law, ordinance or public policy — is to take it back. For example, dog lovers might want the town council to repeal the law that says residents can have no more than four dogs. The verb repeal comes from the Anglo-French word repeler, “to call back.” Repeal is almost always used in the context of law: When a government decides to get rid of an ordinance or law, that ordinance or law is repealed. That means it is no longer in effect, like if the weather becomes unseasonably hot, the schools might repeal the part of the dress code to permit students to wear shorts.
Vocabulary lists containing repeal
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Vocabulary from the Third and Final Presidential Debate, October 19, 2016
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The American Revolution - Introductory
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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 scare tactic has helped reduce support for the repeal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The administration couldn’t repeal healthcare translation laws singlehandedly, Lynette Martins, a professor of health law at DePaul University, told me.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
The UN Human Rights Council on Monday unanimously urged the Taliban to repeal all practices restricting the fundamental freedoms of women and girls, saying Afghanistan's institutionalised discrimination should shock humanity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
Givan announced his department was to repeal the SDC criterion and was launching a consultation, external to gather views on whether new legislation was also needed.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
As the news of the repeal was broadcast over the radio, stores like New York’s Gimbels and Bloomingdale’s immediately opened their liquor departments.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
“They did that through canvassing: going door-to-door, knocking, and having conversations,” said Sinéad Kennedy, a member of Together for Yes’ national executive committee and co-founder of the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2022
Repeal of the law was approved by Congress and President Barack Obama in late 2010 and took effect nine months later, allowing lesbian, gay and bisexual people to serve openly.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2021
Repeal came a few days later on Feb. 1, when Mayor Rolph cited a downturn in infections.
From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2020
Back then, it felt like a dream when I sat inside the court listening to both sides argue Petition 150 and Petition 234, now popularly known as Repeal 162.
From BBC ● May 24, 2019
The sub-leaders became impatient of delay, assumed a defiant tone, and demanded that the non-resistant doctrines of O'Connell be repudiated by the National Repeal Association.
From Sketches of Reforms and Reformers, of Great Britain and Ireland by Henry B. Stanton
"So if there were laws in our statute book in 1994, the constitution explicitly says they remain in force until parliament repeals them, abolishes them or changes them," he adds.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
A major wave of repeals took place in 1985, when Minnesota, South Carolina, and Texas eliminated their blue laws.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 20, 2025
And these repeals would bar the targeted agency from ever taking a “substantially” similar action again.
From Slate ● May 14, 2025
When asked by Batch if someone wearing a mask for health purposes in public would be violating the law, a legislative staff member said it would, because the bill repeals the exemption.
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024
The twenty-fifth section of this act repeals all acts, or parts of acts, inconsistent therewith.
From Trial of the Officers and Crew of the Privateer Savannah, on the Charge of Piracy, in the United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York by A. F. Warburton
The 1998 proposition, which was repealed in 2016, shut down most of California’s K-12 bilingual programs, dropping the number of students receiving bilingual instruction from 30% to 8% statewide.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Constitutional law expert Prof Frans Viljoen believes having the old law repealed is important because it would help to "clean up" the legislation and "close a chapter on the past".
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Louisiana passed a strict mug shot law in 2022 involving nonviolent charges, but largely repealed it when some sheriffs called it unworkable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Because the GPO has been repealed, your wife’s teacher pension will no longer reduce or eliminate her spousal benefit.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Concessions were made here and there, some laws were repealed, others simply weren’t enforced.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
In 2020, I calculated that repealing the firewall would lead to $2.2 trillion in higher subsidy spending over a decade for the estimated 24 million people who would switch from employer coverage to the exchanges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
“Changing that takes a lot more than repealing a law,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
By repealing Balogun's ban, it can only make life more difficult for them.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
However, repealing the earnings test would likely lead to more people claiming Social Security early, hastening the system’s impending insolvency.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
Professor Dash asked me whether I took any encouragement from the government’s stated intention of repealing die mixed-marriage laws and certain other apartheid statutes.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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