How to use propel in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb

Propel means to provide an impetus for motion or physical action; to cause to move in a certain direction; to drive or push forward. Example: “As I opened the champagne bottle, the cork was propelled roofward.”

Examples of propel by meaning

verbTo provide an impetus for motion or physical action; to cause to move in a certain direction; to drive or push forward.

When it had advanced from the wood, it hopped much after the fashion of a kangaroo, using its hind feet and tail to propel it, and when it stood erect, it sat upon its tail.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp....
This tunnel assumed some measure of importance during the second world war, when it was used nightly as an air raid shelter for multiple unit electric trains which were propelled over the branch by a steam engine.1952 December, R. C. Riley, “By Rail to Kemp Town”, in Railway Magazine, page 836
Primary mass relays can propel ships thousands of light years, often from one spiral arm of the galaxy to another.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Mass Relays Codex entry

verbTo provide an impetus for nonphysical change; to cause to arrive to a certain situation or result.

I can discern your nature and see that even without any arguments (logoi) from me it will propel you to what you say you are drawn towards,2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 265e
Black women helped propel Harris and president-elect Joe Biden to victory by elevating turnout in places like Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.2020 November 7, Chelsea Janes, “Kamala Harris, daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, elected nation’s first female vice president”...

More sentences with propel

As I opened the champagne bottle, the cork was propelled roofward.From the entry roofward
The flutter of your legs will propel you through the water, when you execute a proper flutter kick.From the entry flutter
Fish move using a flutter of their body to propel themselves through the water. Some also derive propulsion or maneuverability from their fins' flutter.From the entry flutter
This deflagatory reaction created sufficient pressure to propel a projectile out of a tube with enough speed to kill or injure an opposing combatant.From the entry deflagatory
The Zynternet, which helped propel Welch to fame, may already have a good spot waiting for her.2024 July 3, Katie Notopoulos, “'Hawk Tuah Girl' has our attention. Next, she would like our money.”, in Business Insider, New York, N.Y.…. From the entry Zynternet
They have been recently propelled out of cultdom and into wider acclaim by a confluence of zeitgeists.2015 July 12, Kitty Empire, “King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard review – weird warriors wig out”, in Observer. From the entry cultdom
This device uses a micropump to propel the medication into the GI tract.2015 July 15, Stephen Woods, Timothy Constandinou, “Engineering Micromechanical Systems for the Next Generation Wireless Capsule…. From the entry micropump
So you were not just winning your match, you were propelling your entire team to victory.2015, Michele Weldon, Escape Points: A Memoir. From the entry pinnee
This recombination will also propel cyberdiversity (when biodiversity on this side of the mirror is in decline).2014, AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2014: Focus 2014: The Use of New. From the entry cyberdiversity
Propelling the packet-boat up the stream was the most laborious and dangerous employment which can be imagined.2009, John McDonald, Biographical Sketches of General Nathaniel Massie, page 85. From the entry packet-boat
A mass accelerator propels a solid metal slug using precisely-controlled electromagnetic attraction and repulsion.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Mass Accelerators Codex entry. From the entry slug
It came in between my legs as I propelled kickingly my body backwards looking at them.2007, Dwight S. Huggins, A Spacefarer's Journal: A Human's Dream Encounters with Extra-Humans. From the entry kickingly
Larvae use setiform thoracic legs and a suranal hook to help propel themselves along, aided by silk.2006, James T. Costa, The Other Insect Societies, →ISBN, page 654. From the entry suranal
There was a guy propelling himself with padded “handshoes” bound to his wrists with leather straps.2005, Harvey Mackay, Fired Up!. From the entry handshoe
The Japanese have a horrifying secret weapon: a means of propelling their infantry through solid matter.2001, Glen David Gold, chapter 3, in Carter Beats the Devil […], New York, N.Y.: Hyperion, →ISBN, page 174. From the entry yclept
She became legendary for the geas that propelled her to prophesy dreadful happenings.2000, Ly De Angeles, Witchcraft: Theory and Practice, Llewellyn Worldwide, page 176. From the entry geas
It's actually kind of majestic, like some mythological creature—Sputum the Enchanted Dragon, who flies around the kingdom propelled by mighty wings.2020, Gordon Korman, Notorious, page 43. From the entry sputum
Tuesday, Wanda taught the Queen to use the force of the wind to propel them through the water.2019, Dawn Menge, Queen Vernita Conquers the Volcanic Islands, Bloomington, Ind.: Archway Publishing, →ISBN. From the entry ancraophobia
Fletched darts have the power to kill even when propelled from a great distance and are a highly sophisticated technology.2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 215. From the entry fletched
Then Lobo whispered to Mirella, “Hang tight,” and propelled the airbike forward, taking off with a loud roar of the engines.2016, Monica La Porta, The Fifth Moon's Wolf. From the entry hang tight
His redemptive power — propels us forward.2009, Charles Westbrook, Fresh Daily, page 25. From the entry dine on ashes
Tyson’s advisers hope will reintroduce him to the public and propel him to some semblance of a postboxing career.2008 May 11, Tim Arango, “Mike Tyson Film Takes a Swing at His Old Image”, in New York Times. From the entry postboxing
Psychoanalysis taught him that anxiety was not something to be avoided but is the driving force which propels our intellectual questings.2002, Ariane Deluz, Suzette Heald, Anthropology and Psychoanalysis: An Encounter Through Culture. From the entry questing
On the high plateau, the mistral can unleash in winter the burle, a swirling, blinding snowstorm propelled almost horizontally.2002, John M. Merriman, The Stones of Balazuc: A French Village in Time, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 13. From the entry burle
Squealing and still propelled by the kick, the calf scrabbled through the forest of legs and into the open.1998, Katharine Payne, Silent Thunder: In the Presence of Elephants, page 59. From the entry forest
Will was being propelled across the lobby by an attendant as brawny, fit and eudaemonically sound as Frank Linniman himself.1993, TC Boyle, The Road to Wellville, Penguin, published 1994, page 55. From the entry eudaemonically
As the audience is propelled towards a state of cringeful suspense, the script is littered with recriminations and wit.1993 -, Theatre Record - Volume 13, Issues 1-9, page 222. From the entry cringeful
Originally, all telpher lines consisted of an elevated road, formed of a wire cable, on which vantages electrically propelled cars ran.1905, Edwin James Houston, Electricity in Every-day Life. From the entry telpher line
We remain motionless in the platform while the ex-Edinburgh draws forward, the points are set, and it is propelled back for attachment.2023 February 8, Greg Morse, “Crossing the border... by Sleeper”, in RAIL, number 976, page 43. From the entry motionless
These include a longbow, crossbow, slingshot or shanghai even though it is capable of propelling a projectile by means of an explosive force.2020, Parliament of Singapore, “Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Bill”, in Republic of Singapore Government Gazette, page 161. From the entry shanghai
Kippering is a trait in young Sussex where the dog propels themselves forward with their forelegs while dragging their rear legs extended behind them.2015, Ross D. Clark, Medical, Genetic & Behavioral Risk Factors of Sussex Spaniels and Clumber Spaniels. From the entry kippering
The deep-level Tubes required the invention of a tunnelling machine and a means of propelling trains through those tunnels that would not choke the passengers.2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 86. From the entry deep-level
A perfect shot can give confidence to propel a round, and a single chili dip can ruin an entire year around the greens.2010, Andy Wible, Golf and Philosophy: Lessons from the Links, page 171. From the entry chili dip
English soldiers handled sturdy bows of yew, ash, or elm, which could propel an iron-tipped arrow as far as a hundred yards.1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000…. From the entry ash
She achieved the movement by propelling herself through a series of balances, her arms and legs moving slowly and continuously, almost machinelike.1988 July 1, Laura Molzahn, “Private Puritan”, in Chicago Reader. From the entry machinelike

Meaning of propel

verb To provide an impetus for motion or physical action; to cause to move in a certain direction; to drive or push forward.
verb To provide an impetus for nonphysical change; to cause to arrive to a certain situation or result.

Full definition of propel

Questions about propel in a sentence

How do you use propel in a sentence?: Propel is used as a verb. For example: “As I opened the champagne bottle, the cork was propelled roofward.”
What is a short sentence with propel?: “His redemptive power — propels us forward.”
What does propel mean?: Propel means to provide an impetus for motion or physical action; to cause to move in a certain direction; to drive or push forward.

Adapted from Wiktionary: propel (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use propel in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/propel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.