Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To drive back; repel.
  • transitive verb To rebuff or reject with rudeness, coldness, or denial.
  • transitive verb Usage Problem To cause repugnance or distaste in.
  • noun The act of repulsing or the state of being repulsed.
  • noun Rejection; refusal.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To beat or drive back; repel: as, to repulse an assailant or advancing enemy.
  • To refuse; reject.
  • noun The act of repelling or driving back.
  • noun The condition of being repelled; the state of being checked in advancing, or driven back by force.
  • noun Refusal; denial.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of repelling or driving back; also, the state of being repelled or driven back.
  • noun Figuratively: Refusal; denial; rejection; failure.
  • transitive verb To repel; to beat or drive back
  • transitive verb To repel by discourtesy, coldness, or denial; to reject; to send away.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb to repel or drive back
  • verb to reject or rebuff
  • verb to cause revulsion
  • noun the act of repulsing or the state of being repulsed
  • noun refusal, rejection or repulsion

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb be repellent to; cause aversion in
  • noun an instance of driving away or warding off
  • verb cause to move back by force or influence
  • verb force or drive back

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English repulsen, from Latin repellere, repuls-; see repel.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin repellere ("to drive back"), from re- ("back") + pellere ("to drive").

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