Compel

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Compel \Com*pel"\, v. i.
     To make one yield or submit. "If she can not entreat, I can
     compel." --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Compel \Com*pel"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Compelled}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Compelling}.] [L. compellere, compulsum, to drive
     together, to compel, urge; com- + pellere to drive: cf. OF.
     compellir. See {Pulse}.]
     1. To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to force; to
        constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical
        or moral force.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Wolsey . . . compelled the people to pay up the
              whole subsidy at once.                --Hallam.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And they compel one Simon . . . to bear his cross.
                                                    --Mark xv. 21.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To take by force or violence; to seize; to exact; to
        extort. [R.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Commissions, which compel from each
              The sixth part of his substance.      --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Easy sleep their weary limbs compelled. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I compel all creatures to my will.    --Tennyson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To gather or unite in a crowd or company. [A Latinism] "In
        one troop compelled." --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. To call forth; to summon. [Obs.] --Chapman.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              She had this knight from far compelled. --Spenser.
  
     Syn: To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See
          {Coerce}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  compel
       v 1: force or compel somebody to do something; "We compel all
            students to fill out this form" [syn: {oblige}, {obligate}]
       2: make someone do something [syn: {command}, {require}]
       [also: {compelling}, {compelled}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  95 Moby Thesaurus words for "compel":
     actuate, animate, beat down, beset, bind, break, browbeat,
     bulldoze, bully, castrate, cause, cause to, clamp down on, coerce,
     concuss, constrain, cow, daunt, despotize, dictate, domineer,
     domineer over, drive, drive on, energize, enforce, enslave, force,
     forward, foster, galvanize, give an impetus, give momentum, goad,
     grind, grind down, grip, have, henpeck, hold, impel, incite,
     infatuate, insist upon, intimidate, keep down, keep under,
     lord it over, make, motivate, move, move to action, necessitate,
     not let go, oblige, obsess, oppress, overawe, overbear, overmaster,
     override, possess, power, preoccupy, press heavy on, promote,
     propel, put in motion, repress, restrain, ride over,
     ride roughshod over, set agoing, set going, set in motion, shotgun,
     spark, stimulate, subjugate, suppress, terrorize, thrust, tie,
     trample down, trample upon, tread down, tread upon, tyrannize,
     tyrannize over, unman, use force upon, walk all over, walk over,
     weigh heavy on, whip on
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  Compel
       
          {COMpute ParallEL}