Re··pel v. t. [imp. & p. p. Repelled p. pr. & vb. n. Repelling.]
1. To drive back; to force to return; to check the advance of; to repulse as, to repel an enemy or an assailant.
Hippomedon repelled the hostile tide. --Pope.
They repelled each other strongly, and yet attracted each other strongly. --Macaulay.
2. To resist or oppose effectually; as, to repel an assault, an encroachment, or an argument.
[He] gently repelled their entreaties. --Hawthorne.
Syn: -- Tu repulse; resist; oppose; reject; refuse.
repel
v 1: cause to move back by force or influence; "repel the enemy";
"push back the urge to smoke"; "beat back the invaders"
[syn: drive, repulse, force back, push back, beat
back] [ant: attract]
2: be repellent to; cause aversion in [syn: repulse] [ant: attract]
3: force or drive back; "repel the attacker"; "fight off the
onslaught"; "rebuff the attack" [syn: repulse, fight
off, rebuff, drive back]
4: reject outright and bluntly; "She snubbed his proposal"
[syn: rebuff, snub]
5: fill with distaste; "This spoilt food disgusts me" [syn: disgust,
gross out, revolt]
[also: repelling, repelled]
repelling
adj : highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust; "a
disgusting smell"; "distasteful language"; "a loathsome
disease"; "the idea of eating meat is repellent to me";
"revolting food"; "a wicked stench" [syn: disgusting,
disgustful, distasteful, foul, loathly, loathsome,
repellent, repellant, revolting, skanky, wicked,
yucky]