REPULSE


Meaning of REPULSE in English

I. rə̇ˈpəls, rēˈp- also -lts transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Latin repulsus, past participle of repellere to repel — more at repel

1. : to drive or beat back (as an assault or an enemy) : repel usually by force of arms

police charging the plant gates were repulsed at every attempt — American Guide Series: Michigan

repulsed an Indian attack here — American Guide Series: Tennessee

2. : to repel by discourtesy, coldness, or denial : rebuff , refuse , reject

repulsed every attempt … at conversation — Jane Austen

she had learned to … repulse advances that were disagreeable — Ellen Glasgow

repudiate and repulse any suggestion that we are making a questionable compromise — Sir Winston Churchill

3. : to cause a feeling of repulsion in : disgust

repulsed by the sight of … green flies feeding upon the putrefying flesh of a crocodile — Bernice Matlowsky

repulsed by his own weakness — Carson McCullers

II. noun

( -s )

Etymology: in sense 1, from Latin repulsa, from feminine of repulsus, past participle of repellere; in other senses, from Latin repulsus action of driving back, from repulsus, past participle of repellere

1. : refusal of a request or suit : denial , rebuff , rejection

court repulse from her husband — Thomas Hardy

reap nothing but repulse and hate — John Milton

2. : the action of repelling (as an assailant or a hostile force) or the fact of being repelled in hostile encounter

3. archaic : the action of forcing or driving back : the state of being forced or driven back — opposed to impulse

what a most powerful suction that repulse will create — George Semple

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.