Word.ws English Dictionary

repelling

repelling is the present participle and gerund of repel.

Meaning of repel

Verb

repel (third-person singular simple present repels, present participle repelling, simple past and past participle repelled)

  1. (archaic, transitive) To turn (someone) away from a privilege, right, job, etc.
    • It is some satisfaction to him that is repelled, that dignities, honours, offices, are not alwayes given by desert or worth, but for love, affinitie, friendship, affection, great mens letters, or as commonly they are bought and sold.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II...
  2. (transitive) To reject, put off (a request, demand etc.).
  3. (transitive) To ward off (a malignant influence, attack etc.).
  4. (transitive) To drive back (an assailant, advancing force etc.).
    • In nearby Zintan, rebels repelled an advance by Gaddafi's forces, killing eight and taking one prisoner, a local activist said.2011 May 19, Ian Traynor, The Guardian
  5. (transitive) To force away by means of a repulsive force.
  6. (transitive) To cause repulsion or dislike in; to disgust.
    • However, while the idea of a free holiday appeals enormously, I am frankly repelled by the idea of spending a couple of weeks in your company.2008 January 26, The Guardian

See all 7 meanings of repel

Noun

repelling (plural repellings)

  1. An act by which something is repelled; repulsion.

Forms of repelling

pluralrepellings

Questions about repelling

What does repelling mean?
Repelling means an act by which something is repelled; repulsion.
What is repelling the present participle and gerund of?
Repelling is the present participle and gerund of repel.
What part of speech is repelling?
Repelling is a noun.
What is the plural of repelling?
The plural of repelling is repellings.

Words near repelling in the dictionary

  1. repellet
  2. repelleted
  3. repelleth
  4. repelleting
  5. repellets
  6. repelling
  7. repellingly
  8. repellingness
  9. repellings
  10. repellor
  11. repellors

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: repelling (page history and authors); repel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “repelling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/repelling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.