Compel Meaning
/kəmˈpɛl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo drive together, round up.
verbTo overpower; to subdue.
Sentence Examples
Hunger is a very powerful human instinct which can compel us to extremes of behaviour.
I compel you to adhere to our master's teachings.
The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new evidence will ____ the judge to reconsider the verdict immediately.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You cannot illegally ____ someone to sign a legal contract.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English compellen, borrowed from Middle French compellir, from Latin compellere, itself from com- (“together”) + pellere (“to drive”). Displaced native Old English nīedan.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"She had one of those perfect faces, which irresistibly compel the soul of a man."
— 1917, Upton Sinclair, chapter 16, in King Coal:
"Against my will, / As Pompey was, am I compell’d to set / Upon one battle all our liberties."
— 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
"Wolsey […] compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once."
— 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
"To me it seems that extensive investment in relatively low-powered units may have the same ultimate result of motive power shortage as that which afflicts the London Midland Region today, and which has compelled the re-engining of some of the earlier multiple-unit diesel train sets."
— 1958 June 26, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 412:
"Sellafield compels this kind of gaze into the abyss of deep time because it is a place where multiple time spans – some fleeting, some cosmic – drift in and out of view."
— December 15, 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The new evidence will ____ the judge to reconsider the verdict immediately.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You cannot illegally ____ someone to sign a legal contract.