compel

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Related to compel: compile

com·pel

(kəm-pĕl′)

tr.v. com·pelled, com·pel·ling, com·pels

1. To force (a person) to do something; drive or constrain: The court compelled the company to pay full restitution. My conscience compels me to speak out. See Synonyms at force.

2. To necessitate or require, as by force of circumstance; demand: Growing riots compelled the evacuation of the embassy.

3. To exert a strong, irresistible force on; sway: "The land, in a certain, very real way, compels the minds of the people" (Barry Lopez).

[Middle English compellen, from Latin compellere : com-, com- + pellere, to drive; see pel- in Indo-European roots.]

com·pel′la·ble adj.

com·pel′la·bly adv.

com·pel′ler n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

compel

(kəmˈpɛl)

vb (tr) , -pels, -pelling or -pelled

1. to cause (someone) by force (to be or do something)

2. to obtain by force; exact: to compel obedience.

3. to overpower or subdue

4. archaic to herd or drive together

[C14: from Latin compellere to drive together, from com- together + pellere to drive]

comˈpellable adj

comˈpellably adv

comˈpeller n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

com•pel

(kəmˈpɛl)

v.t. -pelled, -pel•ling.

1. to force or drive, esp. to a course of action: His unruliness compels us to dismiss him.

2. to secure or bring about by force or power: to compel obedience.

3. Archaic. to drive together; unite by force; herd.

[1350–1400; < Anglo-French, Old French compellir « Latin compellere to crowd, force <com- + pellere to push, drive]

com•pel′la•ble, adj.

com•pel′la•bly, adv.

com•pel′ler, n.

syn: compel, impel agree in the idea of forcing someone to be or do something. compel implies an external force; it may be a persuasive urging from another person or a constraining reason or circumstance: Bad health compelled him to resign. impel suggests an internal motivation deriving either from a moral constraint or personal feeling: Guilt impelled him to offer money.

compel

Past participle: compelled
Gerund: compelling

Imperative
compel
compel

Present
I compel
you compel
he/she/it compels
we compel
you compel
they compel

Preterite
I compelled
you compelled
he/she/it compelled
we compelled
you compelled
they compelled

Present Continuous
I am compelling
you are compelling
he/she/it is compelling
we are compelling
you are compelling
they are compelling

Present Perfect
I have compelled
you have compelled
he/she/it has compelled
we have compelled
you have compelled
they have compelled

Past Continuous
I was compelling
you were compelling
he/she/it was compelling
we were compelling
you were compelling
they were compelling

Past Perfect
I had compelled
you had compelled
he/she/it had compelled
we had compelled
you had compelled
they had compelled

Future
I will compel
you will compel
he/she/it will compel
we will compel
you will compel
they will compel

Future Perfect
I will have compelled
you will have compelled
he/she/it will have compelled
we will have compelled
you will have compelled
they will have compelled

Future Continuous
I will be compelling
you will be compelling
he/she/it will be compelling
we will be compelling
you will be compelling
they will be compelling

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been compelling
you have been compelling
he/she/it has been compelling
we have been compelling
you have been compelling
they have been compelling

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been compelling
you will have been compelling
he/she/it will have been compelling
we will have been compelling
you will have been compelling
they will have been compelling

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been compelling
you had been compelling
he/she/it had been compelling
we had been compelling
you had been compelling
they had been compelling

Conditional
I would compel
you would compel
he/she/it would compel
we would compel
you would compel
they would compel

Past Conditional
I would have compelled
you would have compelled
he/she/it would have compelled
we would have compelled
you would have compelled
they would have compelled

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb	1.	compel - force somebody to do something; "We compel all students to fill out this form" obligate, oblige force, thrust - impose urgently, importunately, or inexorably; "She forced her diet fads on him" cause, induce, stimulate, make, get, have - cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner; "The ads induced me to buy a VCR"; "My children finally got me to buy a computer"; "My wife made me buy a new sofa" walk - make walk; "He walks the horse up the mountain"; "Walk the dog twice a day" coerce, force, hale, pressure, squeeze - to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :"She forced him to take a job in the city"; "He squeezed her for information" clamor - compel someone to do something by insistent clamoring; "They clamored the mayor into building a new park" condemn - compel or force into a particular state or activity; "His devotion to his sick wife condemned him to a lonely existence" shame - compel through a sense of shame; "She shamed him into making amends" enforce, implement, apply - ensure observance of laws and rules; "Apply the rules to everyone"; impose, enforce - compel to behave in a certain way; "Social relations impose courtesy"
	2.	compel - necessitate or exact; "the water shortage compels conservation" necessitate, need, require, call for, demand, postulate, involve, ask, take - require as useful, just, or proper; "It takes nerve to do what she did"; "success usually requires hard work"; "This job asks a lot of patience and skill"; "This position demands a lot of personal sacrifice"; "This dinner calls for a spectacular dessert"; "This intervention does not postulate a patient's consent"

compel

verb force, make, urge, enforce, railroad (informal), drive, oblige, constrain, hustle (slang), necessitate, coerce, bulldoze (informal), impel, dragoon the introduction of legislation to compel cyclists to wear a helmet

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

compel

verb

To cause (a person or thing) to act or move in spite of resistance:

coerce, constrain, force, make, obligate, oblige, pressure.

Translations

يُجبر، يُرغم

nutit

tvinge

zwingen nötigen

forzar obligar

ajaapakottaa

astreindre contraindre imposer obliger

neyîa

astringere costringere

piespiest

compelir forçar

вынудить принуждать

siliti

mecbur etmekzorlamak

强迫

compel

[kəmˈpel] VT

1. (= oblige) → obligar
to compel sb to do sth → obligar a algn a hacer algo, compeler a algn a hacer algo (frm)
I feel compelled to say that → me veo obligado a decir que ...

2. (= command) [+ respect, obedience] → imponer; [+ admiration] → ganarse

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

compel

[kəmˈpɛl] vt (= force) → contraindre, obliger
to compel sb to do sth → contraindre qn à faire qch, obliger qn à faire qch
to feel compelled to do sth → se sentir obligé(e) de faire qch

compel

(= force) → zwingen; I feel compelled to tell you … → ich sehe mich (dazu) gezwungen or veranlasst, Ihnen mitzuteilen, …

admiration, respect → abnötigen (from sb jdm); obedience → erzwingen (from sb von jdm)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

compel

[kəmˈpɛl] vt

a. (force) to compel sb (to do sth) → forzare qn (a fare qc), costringere or obbligare qn (a fare qc)

b. (demand, obedience) → esigere; (respect) → incutere

compel

(kəmˈpel) – past tense past participle comˈpelled – verb

to force. They compelled me to betray my country.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Then, I said, the business of us who are the founders of the State will be to compel the best minds to attain that knowledge which we have already shown to be the greatest of all-they must continue to ascend until they arrive at the good; but when they have ascended and seen enough we must not allow them to do as they do now.

Who then are those whom we shall compel to be guardians?

Yes, I said, but for that purpose a very little of either geometry or calculation will be enough; the question relates rather to the greater and more advanced part of geometry--whether that tends in any degree to make more easy the vision of the idea of good; and thither, as I was saying, all things tend which compel the soul to turn her gaze towards that place, where is the full perfection of being, which she ought, by all means, to behold.

View in context

``Half the sum my present necessities compel me to accept; of the remaining half, distribute one moiety among yourselves, sir squires, and divide the other half betwixt the heralds and the pursuivants, and minstrels, and attendants.''

``Ay,'' answered Isaac, ``but if the tyrant lays hold on them as he did to-day, and compels me to smile while he is robbing me?

View in context

I should like to go farther, and give reasons to show that it is advisable to choose those who are to hold so necessary an office in the state, but this is not the fit place for it; some day I will expound the matter to some one able to see to and rectify it; all I say now is, that the additional fact of his being a sorcerer has removed the sorrow it gave me to see these white hairs and this venerable countenance in so painful a position on account of his being a pimp; though I know well there are no sorceries in the world that can move or compel the will as some simple folk fancy, for our will is free, nor is there herb or charm that can force it.

This request I make thus gently and quietly, that, if you comply with it, I may have reason for thanking you; and, if you will not voluntarily, this lance and sword together with the might of my arm shall compel you to comply with it by force."

View in context

It compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilisation into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves.

It compels legislative recognition of particular interests of the workers, by taking advantage of the divisions among the bourgeoisie itself.

View in context

Bishop Erick Mudenyo, the CEO of Compel Centre, said some doctors who have volunteered to provide free services are from across the county.

Church, US medics screen Webuye residents for cancer

On the one hand, one could begin with the default presumption that compelled commercial speech is constitutionally prohibited, and the burden would then be on those seeking to compel such speech to provide sufficient reasons to overcome that presumed constitutionally dictated prohibition.

COMPELLED COMMERCIAL SPEECH AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

She urged the court to compel her husband to give her N35, 000 monthly as feeding allowance, N250, 000 to renew her rent and another N11, 000 to settle her ante natal bills.

My husband must give me N35, 000 as feeding allowance, woman insists

CITE

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