repeal
verb (used with object)
to revoke or withdraw formally or officially.
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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repealed,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these laws were repealed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used in the context of law: When a government decides to get rid of an ordinance or law, that ordinance or law is repealed. That means it is no longer in effect, like if the weather becomes unseasonably hot, the schools might repeal the part of the dress code to permit students to wear shorts.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
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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 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
Its roadless rule repeal would reopen the Tongass National Forest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 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
The protesters had issued an ultimatum, demanding that the government repeal the Black Act.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
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
Their bill, the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act, would also disallow companies’ practice of forcing workers or consumers to give up their rights to bring a class action, a related impediment to justice.
From Slate ● Mar. 1, 2019
Repeal, rē-pēl′, v.t. to revoke by authority, as a law: to abrogate: to recall: to dismiss.—n. a revoking or annulling.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
"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
This year’s bill repeals what’s left of it.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 30, 2024
Because the act which repeals the Test, will only qualify a layman for an employment, but not a Presbyterian or Anabaptist preacher for a church-living.
From The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. — Volume 04 Swift's Writings on Religion and the Church — Volume 2 by Jonathan Swift
European nations have imposed taxes on individual net worth over the years, but most have repealed them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 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
So many states had repealed so many firearm regulations that the District of Columbia’s stringent handgun ban looked like a true outlier.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
The charter amendment ballot measure approved Tuesday would avoid that result and restore the inadvertently repealed funding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
In 1933, by ratification of all the states, the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
But it soon became clear that repealing the previous legislation was one thing; how to replace it quite another.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 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
Meanwhile, New York's Mayor Zohran Mamdani has signed a tongue-in-cheek executive order "temporarily repealing bedtimes" to encourage children to watch the late-night games.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
State lawmakers are also considering avenues to raise revenue, which include repealing a “water’s edge” tax break.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 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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