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Webster 1913 Edition


Quell

Quell

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Quelled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Quelling
.]
[See
Quail
to cower.]
1.
To die.
[Obs.]
Yet he did quake and quaver, like to
quell
.
Spenser.
2.
To be subdued or abated; to yield; to abate.
[R.]
Winter’s wrath begins to
quell
.
Spenser.

Quell

,
Verb.
T.
[OE.
quellen
to kill, AS.
cwellan
, causative of
cwelan
to die; akin to OHG.
quellen
to torment, Icel.
kvelja
. See
Quail
to cower.]
1.
To take the life of; to kill.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
The ducks cried as [if] men would them
quelle
.
Chaucer.
2.
To overpower; to subdue; to put down.
The nation obeyed the call, rallied round the sovereign, and enabled him to
quell
the disaffected minority.
Macaulay.
Northward marching to
quell
the sudden revolt.
Longfellow.
3.
To quiet; to allay; to pacify; to cause to yield or cease;
as, to
quell
grief; to
quell
the tumult of the soul.
Much did his words the gentle lady
quell
.
Spenser.
Syn. – to subdue; crush; overpower; reduce; put down; repress; suppress; quiet; allay; calm; pacify.

Quell

,
Noun.
Murder.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Quell

QUELL

, v.t.
1.
To crush; to subdue; to cause to cease; as, to quell an insurrection or sedition.
2.
To quiet; to allay; to reduce to peace; as, to quell the tumult of the soul.
3.
To subdue; to reduce.
This quell'd her pride.

QUELL

,
Verb.
I.
To die; to abate.

QUELL

,
Noun.
Murder. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024


Quell

Quell

See also: quell and quell'

Luxembourgish

Noun

Quell f (plural Quellen)

  1. source
  2. spring

quell

quell

See also: Quell and quell'

English

Verb

quell (third-person singular simple present quells, present participle quelling, simple past and past participle quelled)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To kill. [9th-19th c.]
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
  2. (transitive) To subdue, to put down; to silence or force (someone) to submit. [from 10th c.]
    • Macaulay
      The nation obeyed the call, rallied round the sovereign, and enabled him to quell the disaffected minority.
    • Longfellow
      Northward marching to quell the sudden revolt.
  3. (transitive) To suppress, to put an end to (something); to extinguish. [from 14th c.]
    to quell grief
    to quell the tumult of the soul
    • 2014 December 13, Mandeep Sanghera, “Burnley 1-0 Southampton”, in BBC Sport:
      However, after quelling Burnley's threat, Southampton failed to build on their growing danger culminating in Tadic's missed penalty.
  4. (obsolete, intransitive) To be subdued or abated; to diminish. [16th-17th c.]
    • Spenser
      Winter's wrath begins to quell.
  5. To die.
    • Spenser
      Yet he did quake and quaver, like to quell.

Noun

quell (plural quells)

  1. A subduing.
    • 1903, Knowledge: A Monthly Record of Science
      The quell of the rebellion raised Justinian to the acme of power.
    • 1978, Shiu Heng Chook, Chiang Kai-shek Close-up: A Personal View
      Hu had been supportive of Chiang's role throughout the northern expedition and the quell of southern rebellion.
    • 1994, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. international drug control policy: recent experience, future options : seminar proceedings, Government Printing Office (ISBN 9780160435843)
      The consequences have not been significant in terms of the quell of any of the three drugs into the United States.
    • 1998, Mirza Arshad Ali Beg, Democracy Displaced in Pakistan: Case History of Disasters of Social Pollution
      Each Martial Law was marked by the quell of civil liberties or human rights.
    • 2013, Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire, Scholastic UK
      But to make things even worse, this is the year of the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games, and that means it's also a Quarter Quell. They occur every twenty-five years, marking the anniversary of the districts' defeat with over-the-top celebrations and, for extra fun, some miserable twist for the tributes.
    • 2014, Markham J. Geller, Melammu: The Ancient World in an Age of Globalization, epubli (ISBN 9783945561003), page 136
      An example can be found in the data about the campaigns of Aššur-bān-apli against Arab tribes after the quell of the revolt of Šamaš-šumukīn.
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English *quelle (suggested by the verb quellen (to well up; gush forth)), from Old English cwylla, *cwielle (spring; source), from Proto-Germanic *kwellǭ (well; spring). Compare German Quelle.

Noun

quell (plural quells)

  1. A source, especially a spring.
    • 1894, George Egerton, Discords
      And when they had eaten, and sat resting in a grotto, he was still singing, and she was the goddess of his Muse, — the quell of living waters out of which he drew fresh strength for new lays.
    • 1969, Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, Ada, Or, Ardor, a Family Chronicle, Vintage (ISBN 9780679725220)
      Other excruciations replaced her namesake's loquacious quells so completely that when, during a lucid interval, she happened to open with her weak little hand a lavabo cock for a drink of water, the tepid lymph replied in its own lingo []
    • 2001, Hans-Dieter Klingemann, Andrea Römmele, Public Information Campaigns and Opinion Research: A Handbook for the Student and Practitioner, SAGE (ISBN 9781412932646), page 82
      The strategists had access to a wide array of private polling and information from focus groups; a quell of information stretching back over his years as a state-wide candidate and office holder.
  2. An emotion or sensation which rises suddenly.
    • 2001, Zane Gates, The Cure, iUniverse (ISBN 9780595174843), page 241
      A quell of strength over took Robin with each of his words. She was about to fall apart, but Jacob was as brave as a warrior going into battle.
    • 2011, Linda Lee Chaikin, Hawaiian Crosswinds, Moody Publishers (ISBN 9781575675541)
      For a moment their eyes locked, and she felt a quell of anger rise above her apprehension. Reality struck with appalling clarity, yet she could only lie down, partially drugged and untidy as she was from such rough traveling.
    • 2012, Molly Hopkins, It Happened at Boot Camp: Exclusive Novella, Hachette UK (ISBN 9781405513005)
      I read on. It will cost two hundred and fifty quid. I felt a quell of alarm, that's quite expensive.