repel

[ ri-pel ]

/ rɪˈpɛl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR repel ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), re·pelled, re·pel·ling.

to drive or force back (an assailant, invader, etc.).

to thrust back or away.

to resist effectively (an attack, onslaught, etc.).

to keep off or out; fail to mix with: Water and oil repel each other.

to resist the absorption or passage of (water or other liquid): This coat repels rain.

to refuse to have to do with; resist involvement in: to repel temptation.

to refuse to accept or admit; reject: to repel a suggestion.

to discourage the advances of (a person): He repelled me with his harshness.

to cause distaste or aversion in: Their untidy appearance repelled us.

to push back or away by a force, as one body acting upon another (opposed to attract): The north pole of one magnet will repel the north pole of another.

verb (used without object), re·pelled, re·pel·ling.

to act with a force that drives or keeps away something.

to cause distaste or aversion.

RELATED WORDS

scattering, dispersing

Nearby words

Origin of repel

1350–1400; Middle English repellen < Latin repellere to drive back, equivalent to re- re- + pellere to drive, push; see repulse

SYNONYMS FOR repel

1. repulse, parry, ward off. 3. withstand, oppose, rebuff. 7. decline, rebuff.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR repel ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR repel

1. attract.

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Related forms

re·pel·lence, re·pel·len·cy, nounre·pel·ler, nounre·pel·ling·ly, adverbre·pel·ling·ness, noun

non·re·pel·lence, nounnon·re·pel·len·cy, nounnon·re·pel·ler, nounself-re·pel·len·cy, nounun·re·pelled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for repelling

The following extracts are quoted from the press of China, upon the subject of repelling the Ti-pings from Shanghae.
Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh|Augustus F. Lindley
Glittering and glassy, they sparkled like ice—clear, sarcastic and repelling—and oh, how cold!
The Monctons: A Novel, Volume I|Susanna Moodie
"Perhaps he prizes it for its own sake," Mrs. Gould said in a tone as if she were repelling an undeserved aspersion.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard|Joseph Conrad
That full-blooded, powerful temperament is the only nature capable of repelling the action of time.
Beatrix|Honore de Balzac

She had no intimates of her own sex; with the women she was courteously distant, repelling and rather despising them.
Desert Conquest|A. M. Chisholm

British Dictionary definitions for repelling

repel

/ (rɪˈpɛl) /

verb -pels, -pelling or -pelled (mainly tr)

to force or drive back (something or somebody, esp an attacker)

(also intr) to produce a feeling of aversion or distaste in (someone or something); be disgusting (to)

to push aside; dismisshe repelled the suggestion as wrong and impossible

to be effective in keeping away, controlling, or resistingan aerosol spray that repels flies

to have no affinity for; fail to mix with or absorbwater and oil repel each other

to disdain to accept (something); turn away from or spurnshe repelled his advances

(also intr) to exert an opposing force on (something)an electric charge repels another charge of the same sign

Derived Formsrepeller, noun

Word Origin for repel

C15: from Latin repellere, from re- + pellere to push, drive

xref

See repulse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for repelling

repel

early 15c., "to drive away, remove," from Old French repeller or directly from Latin repellere "to drive back," from re- "back" (see re-) + pellere "to drive, strike" (see pulse (n.1)). Meaning "to affect (a person) with distaste or aversion" is from 1817. Related: Repelled; repelling.