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

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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

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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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