Expel

//ɪkˈspɛl// verb

verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To eject. transitive
  2. 2
    eliminate (a substance) wordnet
  3. 3
    To fire (a bullet, arrow etc.). obsolete, transitive

    "But to the ground the idle quarrell fell: / Then he another and another did expell."

  4. 4
    cause to flee wordnet
  5. 5
    To remove from membership. transitive

    "He was expelled from school multiple times for disruptive behaviour."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    remove from a position or office wordnet
  2. 7
    To deport. transitive
  3. 8
    force to leave or move out wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dischargeoustbanishdislodgeejecteliminate

Antonyms

All antonyms
impel

Example

More examples

"No one has the right to expel Dan from this country."

Etymology

Late Middle English: from Latin expellere, from ex- (“out”) + pellere (“to drive”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.