repel

/ri'pel/

Definition

Verb:
- To drive or force back: To push something away or resist an advance.
- To cause aversion or disgust: To be so unpleasant that it causes strong dislike or distaste.
- To reject or refuse in a blunt manner: To dismiss an offer, idea, or person outright.
- (Physics) To exert a force that pushes away: To have a magnetic or electric force that pushes a similar pole or charge away.

Examples of Usage

Verb:
- The army managed to repel the invasion. (They successfully forced the invading forces to retreat.)
- The smell of the rotten eggs repelled everyone from the kitchen. (The unpleasant odor caused everyone to feel disgusted and leave.)
- She repelled his advances with a firm "no". (She bluntly rejected his romantic or social overtures.)
- In magnets, like poles repel each other. (Two north poles push each other away due to magnetic force.)

Advanced Usage

"to repel boarders": (historical/nautical) to fight off and drive away attackers attempting to board a ship.
- The crew prepared to repel boarders during the pirate attack.
"to repel water/oil": to have a surface that causes liquids to bead up and roll off rather than be absorbed.
- This fabric has been treated to repel water.

Variants and Related Words

Repellent (adj/noun):
- (Adjective) Causing strong dislike or aversion; driving away. His behavior was repellent to me.
- (Noun) A substance used to drive insects or other pests away. I applied mosquito repellent before the hike.
Repulsion (noun): A feeling of intense distaste or disgust; the physical force that pushes things apart.

Synonyms

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Repel" is not commonly used with particles to form standard phrasal verbs. Its meanings are typically expressed directly.)

Related Idioms

"Like repels like": A concept, often in physics or behavior, suggesting that similar things or people tend to push each other away.
- In their personalities, they are so similar that like repels like, and they often argue.

Verb

fill with distaste
- This spoilt food disgusts me
reject outright and bluntly
- She snubbed his proposal
force or drive back
- repel the attacker
- fight off the onslaught
- rebuff the attack
be repellent to; cause aversion in
cause to move back by force or influence
- repel the enemy
- push back the urge to smoke
- beat back the invaders

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