repel
Americanverb (used with object)
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to drive or force back (an assailant, invader, etc.).
- Antonyms:
- attract
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to thrust back or away.
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to resist effectively (an attack, onslaught, etc.).
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to keep off or out; fail to mix with.
Water and oil repel each other.
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to resist the absorption or passage of (water or other liquid).
This coat repels rain.
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to refuse to have to do with; resist involvement in.
to repel temptation.
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to refuse to accept or admit; reject.
to repel a suggestion.
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to discourage the advances of (a person).
He repelled me with his harshness.
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to cause distaste or aversion in.
Their untidy appearance repelled us.
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to push back or away by a force, as one body acting upon another (attract ).
The north pole of one magnet will repel the north pole of another.
verb (used without object)
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to act with a force that drives or keeps away something.
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to cause distaste or aversion.
verb
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to force or drive back (something or somebody, esp an attacker)
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(also intr) to produce a feeling of aversion or distaste in (someone or something); be disgusting (to)
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to push aside; dismiss
he repelled the suggestion as wrong and impossible
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to be effective in keeping away, controlling, or resisting
an aerosol spray that repels flies
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to have no affinity for; fail to mix with or absorb
water and oil repel each other
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to disdain to accept (something); turn away from or spurn
she repelled his advances
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(also intr) to exert an opposing force on (something)
an electric charge repels another charge of the same sign
Other Word Forms
- nonrepellence noun
- nonrepellency noun
- nonrepeller noun
- repellence noun
- repellency noun
- repeller noun
- repellingly adverb
- repellingness noun
- self-repellency noun
- unrepelled adjective
Etymology
Origin of repel
1350–1400; Middle English repellen < Latin repellere to drive back, equivalent to re- re- + pellere to drive, push; repulse
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.
Such views aren’t unusual in Japanese politics, but they repel some of the electorate.
This textured surface becomes superhydrophobic, allowing it to strongly repel water and remain dry.
From Science Daily
Cubans practiced for a “war of all the people” to repel invaders.
President Zelensky said Ukraine had received missiles to repel the overnight attack on Monday, and added they had helped significantly.
From BBC
He led two companies of Cuban troops that day and argues that Cubans would still repel any repeat attempt:
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.
