Meaning & use
repel
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To drive or keep something away, such as an attacker, an insect or water.
Grammar: Takes an object: repel insects.
Patterns
- repel something
- repel an attack
The coat is treated to repel rain.
Soldiers repelled the attack at dawn.
This spray repels mosquitoes for hours.
verbtransitive or intransitivephysics
To push away by a physical force, as happens between like magnetic poles or like electric charges.
Grammar: Can take an object or stand alone: the poles repel.
Patterns
- repel each other
Two north poles repel each other.
Like charges repel and opposite charges attract.
verbtransitive
To cause strong dislike or disgust in someone.
Grammar: Often passive with by: she was repelled by the smell.
Patterns
- be repelled by something
The smell of the milk repelled him.
Many voters were repelled by the harsh tone of the campaign.
Word forms
| third person singular | repels |
|---|---|
| past tense | repelled |
| past participle | repelled |
| -ing form | repelling |
Common combinations
- repel insects
- Certain plants repel insects.
- repel water
- The fabric repels water well.
- repel an attack
- The garrison repelled a night attack.
- repel each other
- The magnets repel each other.
- be repelled by
- She was repelled by his rudeness.
Synonyms and how they differ
- repulse
- Repulse is stronger and more formal, mostly used for driving back an attack or arousing disgust.
- ward off
- Ward off is an informal phrasal verb that stresses prevention of something unwelcome.
- disgust
- Disgust applies only to the emotional sense and does not describe physical forces.
- resist
- Resist means to hold out against something, whereas repel actively pushes it away.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: repel or repeal?
repel vs repeal
Repeal means to cancel a law formally; repel means to push away.
Practice
Which word completes the sentence? Like poles of two magnets ____ each other.
Choose one answer.
Like magnetic poles push apart, which is repel. Attract describes unlike poles.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “repel”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.