repeal

[ ri-peel ]
See synonyms for repeal on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to revoke or withdraw formally or officially: to repeal a grant.

  2. to revoke or annul (a law, tax, duty, etc.) by express legislative enactment; abrogate.

noun
  1. the act of repealing; revocation; abrogation.

Origin of repeal

1
1275–1325; Middle English repelen<Anglo-French repeler, equivalent to re-re- + (a)peler to appeal

Other words for repeal

Other words from repeal

  • re·peal·a·bil·i·ty, re·peal·a·ble·ness, noun
  • re·peal·a·ble, adjective
  • re·peal·er, noun
  • non·re·peal·a·ble, adjective
  • un·re·peal·a·bil·i·ty, noun
  • un·re·peal·a·ble, adjective
  • un·re·pealed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use repeal in a sentence

  • He therefore most wisely enforced all those precepts as inseparable, unchangeable, and unrepealable.

British Dictionary definitions for repeal (1 of 2)

repeal

/ (rɪˈpiːl) /


verb(tr)
  1. to annul or rescind officially (something previously ordered); revoke: these laws were repealed

  2. obsolete to call back (a person) from exile

noun
  1. an instance or the process of repealing; annulment

Origin of repeal

1
C14: from Old French repeler, from re- + apeler to call, appeal

Derived forms of repeal

  • repealable, adjective
  • repealer, noun

British Dictionary definitions for Repeal (2 of 2)

Repeal

/ (rɪˈpiːl) /


nounthe Repeal
  1. (esp in the 19th century) the proposed dissolution of the Union between Great Britain and Ireland

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