repulse
/ɹɪˈpʌls/ verb, noun
Forms repulses repulsing repulsed
- verb (transitive) To repel or drive back. “to repulse an assault; to repulse the enemy”
- verb (transitive) To reject or rebuff. “to repulse a suitor”
- verb (transitive) To cause revulsion in; to repel. “The smell of rotting food repulsed me.”
- noun The act of repulsing or the state of being repulsed.
- noun Refusal, rejection or repulsion.
Synonyms
rebuff snub repel fight off drive back drive force back push back beat back
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English repulsen, a learned borrowing from Latin repulsus, from repellō.
For spelling, as in pulse, the -e (on -lse) is so the end is pronounced /ls/, rather than /lz/ as in pulls, and does not change the vowel (‘u’). Compare else, false, convulse.
Inherited from Middle English repulse, borrowed from Old French repulse, from Latin repulsa (petītiō), from repellō.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To repel; to beat or drive back; as, to repulse an assault; to repulse the enemy.
- verb To repel by discourtesy, coldness, or denial; to reject; to send away; as, to repulse a suitor or a proffer.
- noun The act of repelling or driving back; also, the state of being repelled or driven back.
- noun Figuratively: Refusal; denial; rejection; failure.
Etymology [L. repulsus, p. p. of repellere. See Repel.]
Etymology [L. repulsa, fr. repellere, repulsum.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “repulse”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details