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quell - 6 dictionary results

quell

  [kwel]
Use quell in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to suppress; put an end to; extinguish: The troops quelled the rebellion quickly.
2. to vanquish; subdue.
3. to quiet or allay (emotions, anxieties, etc.): The child's mother quelled his fears of the thunder.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME quellen, OE cwellan to kill; akin to ON kvelja to torment, G quälen to vex; cf. kill 1

Related forms:
quell⋅a⋅ble, adjective
queller, noun

Synonyms:
1, 2. crush, quash, overpower, overcome, defeat, conquer, quench. 3. calm, pacify, compose, hush.

Antonyms:
1, 2. foster. 3. agitate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To quell
quell   (kwěl)   
tr.v.   quelled, quell·ing, quells
  1. To put down forcibly; suppress: Police quelled the riot.
  2. To pacify; quiet: finally quelled the children's fears.

[Middle English quellen, to kill, from Old English cwellan; see gwelə- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Quell

Quell\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Quelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Quelling.] [See Quail to cower.]

1. To die. [Obs.]

Yet he did quake and quaver, like to quell. --Spenser.

2. To be subdued or abated; to yield; to abate. [R.]

Winter's wrath begins to quell. --Spenser.

Quell

Quell\, v. t. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]

1. To take the life of; to kill. [Obs.] --Spenser.

The ducks cried as [if] men would them quelle. --Chaucer.

2. To overpower; to subdue; to put down.

The nation obeyed the call, rallied round the sovereign, and enabled him to quell the disaffected minority. --Macaulay.

Northward marching to quell the sudden revolt. --Longfellow.

3. To quiet; to allay; to pacify; to cause to yield or cease; as, to quell grief; to quell the tumult of the soul.

Much did his words the gentle lady quell. --Spenser.

Syn: to subdue; crush; overpower; reduce; put down; repress; suppress; quiet; allay; calm; pacify.

Quell

Quell\, n. Murder. [Obs.] --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : quell
Spanish: reprimir, sofocar,
German: unterdrücken,
Japanese: 鎮静する
More Translations »

quell 
O.E. cwellan "to kill, murder, execute," from P.Gmc. *kwaljanan (cf. O.E. cwelan "to die," cwalu "violent death;" O.S. quellian "to torture, kill;" O.N. kvelja "to torment;" M.Du. quelen "to vex, tease, torment;" O.H.G. quellan "to suffer pain," Ger. qualen "to torment, torture"), from root *kwel-/*kwal- (cf. Armenian kelem "I torture;" O.C.S. zali "pain;" Lith. galas "end," gela "agony," gelati "to sting"). Milder sense of "suppress, extinguish" developed by c.1300.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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