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dispel

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English dispelen, from Latin dispellere (“to disperse; to dispel”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [dɪˈspɛɫ]
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Hyphenation: di‧spel
  • Rhymes: -ɛl

Verb

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dispel (third-person singular simple present dispels, present participle dispelling, simple past and past participle dispelled)

  1. (transitive) To drive away or cause to vanish by scattering.
    Synonym: disperse
    The clouds and mist were soon enough dispelled by the sun.
  2. (transitive) To remove (fears, doubts, objections etc.) by proving them unjustified.
    Synonyms: cast away, cast off
    • 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:
      It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. […]. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
    • 1957 January, H. A. Vallance, “The Deeside Railway—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 6:
      The fate of the railway from Ballater to Braemar has been invested with an air of mystery, which has never been completely dispelled. It has been suggested that Queen Victoria was opposed to a railway in the vicinity of Balmoral Castle, and intervened personally to secure the abandonment of the line beyond Ballater.
  3. (transitive, Africa, chiefly with with) To get rid of or manage without.

Usage notes

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The sense of "to get rid of or manage without" is considered informal and nonstandard outside Africa.

Derived terms

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Collocations

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  • dispel a cloud
  • dispel rumours
  • dispel cares
  • dispel doubts
  • dispel illusions
  • dispel objections
  • dispel vapors

Translations

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Noun

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dispel (plural dispels)

  1. An act or instance of dispelling.
    • 2008, Caitlin Kittredge, Night Life‎[1]:
      “My dispel didn't work,” she said finally. “He wasn't a blood witch, Sunny,” I said.
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Anagrams

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