impel
English
Etymology
From Middle English impellen, borrowed from Latin impellō.
Pronunciation
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Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛl
Verb
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- (transitive) To urge a person; to press on; to incite to action or motion via intrinsic motivation.
- Antonym: (to compel or drive extrinsically) propel
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp[1]:
- She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.
- (transitive) To drive forward; to propel an object.
- Synonym: propel
Antonyms
Related terms
Translations
To urge a person; to press on; to incite to action or motion via intrinsic motivation
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To drive forward; to propel an object
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References
- “impel”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “impel”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.