repulse
/ri'pʌls/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb:
- To drive back or repel by force: To successfully resist an attack or an advancing force, causing it to retreat.
- To reject or refuse in a cold, unfriendly, or abrupt manner: To cause a feeling of strong dislike or disgust, leading to rejection.
Noun:
- An instance of being driven back or repelled: The act of defeating and forcing back an attack or assault.
- A cold rejection or refusal: An instance of being rebuffed or spurned.
Usage Examples
Verb:
- The defenders managed to repulse the enemy assault. (The defenders successfully drove back the enemy's attack.)
- His rude behavior repulsed everyone at the party. (His impolite actions caused strong dislike in everyone at the party.)
- She repulsed his offer of help with a cold stare. (She rejected his offer of help in an unfriendly way.)
Noun:
- The army's attack ended in a bloody repulse. (The army's attack resulted in being forcefully driven back.)
- He suffered a painful repulse when he asked her for a date. (He experienced a harsh rejection when he asked her out.)
Advanced Usage
"to repulse an advance": to reject someone's attempt to become closer, either romantically or socially.
- She had to repulse his persistent advances. (She had to firmly reject his continual attempts to get closer.)
"to be repulsed by": to feel a strong sense of disgust or aversion towards something.
- I was utterly repulsed by the graphic images. (I felt intense disgust because of the explicit images.)
Variants and Related Words
- Repulsion (n): A feeling of intense distaste or disgust; the physical force that pushes objects apart.
- She felt a wave of repulsion at the suggestion.
- Repulsive (adj): Arousing intense distaste or disgust; causing aversion.
- The crime scene was a repulsive sight.
- Repellent (adj/n): (Adjective) Causing disgust or aversion. (Noun) A substance used to deter insects.
- His attitude was repellent to most people.
Synonyms
- Verb: Repel, rebuff, reject, spurn, disgust, revolt.
- Noun: Rejection, rebuff, snub, defeat.
Related Phrasal Verbs
(Note: "Repulse" itself is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. The actions are typically expressed by the verb alone or with synonyms.)
Related Idioms
- "To meet with a repulse": To be defeated or rejected.
- Their proposal met with a firm repulse from the board. (Their proposal was firmly rejected by the board.)
- "To beat back/repulse an onslaught": To successfully defend against a fierce and sustained attack.
- The small unit beat back the enemy onslaught against all odds.
Noun
- an instance of driving away or warding off
Verb
- cause to move back by force or influence
- repel the enemy
- push back the urge to smoke
- beat back the invaders
- be repellent to; cause aversion in
- force or drive back
- repel the attacker
- fight off the onslaught
- rebuff the attack