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repel

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Repel
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re⋅pel

  [ri-pel] verb, -pelled, -pel⋅ling.
Use repel in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to drive or force back (an assailant, invader, etc.).
2. to thrust back or away.
3. to resist effectively (an attack, onslaught, etc.).
4. to keep off or out; fail to mix with: Water and oil repel each other.
5. to resist the absorption or passage of (water or other liquid): This coat repels rain.
6. to refuse to have to do with; resist involvement in: to repel temptation.
7. to refuse to accept or admit; reject: to repel a suggestion.
8. to discourage the advances of (a person): He repelled me with his harshness.
9. to cause distaste or aversion in: Their untidy appearance repelled us.
10. 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)
11. to act with a force that drives or keeps away something.
12. to cause distaste or aversion.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME repellen < L repellere to drive back, equiv. to re- re- + pellere to drive, push; see repulse

Related forms:
re⋅pel⋅lence, re⋅pel⋅len⋅cy, noun
re⋅pel⋅ler, noun
re⋅pel⋅ling⋅ly, adverb
re⋅pel⋅ling⋅ness, noun

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

Antonyms:
1. attract.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Repel
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re·pel   (rĭ-pěl')   
v.   re·pelled, re·pel·ling, re·pels

v.   tr.

  1. To ward off or keep away; drive back: repel insects.

  2. To offer resistance to; fight against: repel an invasion.

  3. To refuse to accept; reject: a company that was trying to repel a hostile takeover.

  4. To turn away from; spurn.

  5. To cause aversion or distaste in: Your rudeness repels everyone. See Synonyms at disgust. See Usage Note at repulse.

  6. To be resistant to; be incapable of absorbing or mixing with: Oil repels water.

  7. Physics To present an opposing force to; push back or away by a force: Electric charges of the same sign repel one another.

v.   intr.

  1. To offer a resistant force to something.

  2. To cause aversion or distaste: behavior that repels.


[Middle English repellen, from Old French repeller, from Latin repellere : re-, re- + pellere, to drive; see pel-5 in Indo-European roots.]
re·pel'ler n.
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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Word Origin & History

repel 
c.1421, "to drive away, remove," from O.Fr. repeller, from L. repellere "to drive back," from re- "back" + pellere "to drive, strike" (see pulse (1)). Meaning "to affect (a person) with distaste or aversion" is from 1817. Repellent (adj.) is recorded from 1643, from L. repellentem, prp. of repellere; originally of medicines (that reduced tumors); meaning "distasteful, disagreeable" first recorded 1797. The noun sense of "substance that repels insects" first recorded 1908.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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