COMPEL

compel, oblige, obligate

(verb) force somebody to do something; “We compel all students to fill out this form”

compel

(verb) necessitate or exact; “the water shortage compels conservation”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

compel (third-person singular simple present compels, present participle compelling, simple past and past participle compelled)

(transitive, archaic, literally) To drive together, round up

(transitive) To overpower; to subdue.

(transitive) To force, constrain or coerce.

(transitive) To exact, extort, (make) produce by force.

(obsolete) To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.

(obsolete) To gather or unite in a crowd or company.

(obsolete) To call forth; to summon.

Source: Wiktionary


Com*pel", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compelled; p. pr. & vb. n Compelling.] Etym: [L. compellere, compilstum, to drive together, to compel, urge; com- + pellere to drive: cf. OF. compellir. See Pulse.]

1. To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to force; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force. Wolsey . . . compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once. Hallam. And they compel one Simon . . . to bear his cross. Mark xv. 21.

2. To take by force or violence; to seize; to exact; to extort. [R.] Commissions, which compel from each The sixth part of his substance. Shak.

3. To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate. Easy sleep their weary limbs compelled. Dryden. I compel all creatures to my will. Tennyson.

4. To gather or unite in a crowd or company. [A Latinism] "In one troop compelled." Dryden.

5. To call forth; to summon. [Obs.] Chapman. She had this knight from far compelled. Spenser.

Syn.

– To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See Coerce.

Com*pel", v. i.

Definition: To make one yield or submit. "If she can not entreat, I can not compel." Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 February 2025

BARGAIN

(noun) an advantageous purchase; “she got a bargain at the auction”; “the stock was a real buy at that price”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de Bolívar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.

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