compeller

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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.

References in periodicals archive ?

The sister concept, what Thomas Schelling described as compellence, is about forcing an actor to do something in line with what the compeller (adversary) wants it to do.

LESSONS FROM THE BRINK

WOLVERHAMPTON (A.W) 5.45 New Abbey Angel Lucinda Russell MUSSELBURGH 11.30 Urban Kode, The Compeller; 12.05 The Road Home; 12.40 Celtic Flames; 1.50 Alizee De Janeiro; 2.30 Misfits R Mike Smith MUSSELBURGH 11.30 Peters Grey, Read'em And Weep; 12.05 J And M Greengairs; 1.10 Cooper's Friend Sandy Thomson MUSSELBURGH 11.30 Nendrum; 12.05 Ballycrystal Court; 1.10 John Williams; 1.50 Arthurs Secret, Buckled

HOT SCOTS

Al Qubaisi stressed that the Municipality would be guided in projects in all general and landscaping projects in particular by the wise approach adopted by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, "Compeller of Desert" and founder of the agricultural and landscaping renaissance seen by the UAE.