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Webster 1913 Edition


Compel

Com-pel′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Compelled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Compelling
.]
[L.
compellere
,
compulsum
, 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.
Shakespeare
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.
Syn. – To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See
Coerce
.

Com-pel′

,
Verb.
I.
To make one yield or submit.
“If she can not entreat, I can compel.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Compel

COMPEL

, v.t.
1.
To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force.
Thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bound servant. Levit. 25.
And they compel one Simon--to bear his cross. Mark 15.
Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. Luke 14.
Circumstances compel us to practice economy.
2.
To force; to take by force, or violence; to seize.
The subjects grief comes through commissions, which compel from each a sixth part of his substance.
3.
To drive together; to gather; to unite in a crowd or company. A Latinism, compellere gregem.
In one troop compelled.
4.
To seize; to overpower; to hold.
And easy sleep their weary limbs compelled.
5.
To call forth, L. compeller.

Definition 2024


compel

compel

English

Verb

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

  1. (transitive, archaic, literally) To drive together, round up (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  2. (transitive) To overpower; to subdue.
    • 1917, Upton Sinclair, King Coal, ch. 16,
      She had one of those perfect faces, which irresistibly compel the soul of a man.
  3. (transitive) To force, constrain or coerce.
    Logic compels the wise, while fools feel compelled by emotions.
    • 1600, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, act 5, scene 1,
      Against my will, / As Pompey was, am I compell’d to set / Upon one battle all our liberties.
    • Hallam
      Wolsey [] compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once.
  4. (transitive) To exact, extort, (make) produce by force.
    • Shakespeare
      Commissions, which compel from each / The sixth part of his substance.
    • 1912, L. Frank Baum, Sky Island, ch. 14,
      The Queen has nothing but the power to execute the laws, to adjust grievances and to compel order.
  5. (obsolete) To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
    • Dryden
      Easy sleep their weary limbs compelled.
    • Tennyson
      I compel all creatures to my will.
  6. (obsolete) To gather or unite in a crowd or company.
    • Dryden
      in one troop compelled
  7. (obsolete) To call forth; to summon.
    • Spenser
      She had this knight from far compelled.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Chapman to this entry?)

Derived terms

Translations

References

  • compel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • compel” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
  • Random House Webster’s Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.