DISPEL (dispelled, dispelling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: dispelled    , dispelling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dispel mean? 

• DISPEL (verb)
  The verb DISPEL has 2 senses:

1. force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings

2. to cause to separate and go in different directions

  Familiarity information: DISPEL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DISPEL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they dispel    ... he / she / it dispels   
Past simple: dispelled   
Past participle: dispelled   
-ing form: dispelling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

chase away; dispel; drive away; drive off; drive out; run off; turn back

Context example:

The supermarket had to turn back many disappointed customers

Hypernyms (to "dispel" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Verb group:

drive out; force out; rouse; rout out (force or drive out)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dispel"):

fire (drive out or away by or as if by fire)

clear the air (dispel differences or negative emotions)

banish (drive away)

shoo; shoo away; shoo off (drive away by crying 'shoo!')

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

To cause to separate and go in different directions

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

break up; dispel; disperse; dissipate; scatter

Context example:

She waved her hand and scattered the crowds

Hypernyms (to "dispel" is one way to...):

divide; separate (make a division or separation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "dispel"):

disband (cause to break up or cease to function)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

 Context examples 

Mr. Wickham's society was of material service in dispelling the gloom which the late perverse occurrences had thrown on many of the Longbourn family.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I was a little startled myself, for it seemed for an instant as if the stranger had great eyes like burning flames; but a second look dispelled the illusion.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The sight of the safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to finally dispel any doubts which may have remained.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Turning as from a fallen idol, she made other discoveries which rapidly dispelled her romantic illusions.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He said that Mrs. Micawber had latterly had her doubts on this point, but that he had dispelled them, and reassured her.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The prospect before her now, was threatening to a degree that could not be entirely dispelled—that might not be even partially brightened.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

But a second glance dispelled the hope.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Employment, even melancholy, may dispel melancholy, and her occupations were hopeful.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The coming of daylight dispelled his fears but increased his loneliness.

(White Fang, by Jack London)