Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use quell in a sentence

21 example sentences · verb, noun

Quell means to subdue, put down, or silence (someone or something); to force (someone) to submit. Example: “We do not anticipate there will be US boots on the ground to help quell the violence.”

Examples of quell by meaning

verbTo suppress, to put an end to (something); to extinguish.

  • to quell grief
  • to quell the tumult of the soul
  • However, after quelling Burnley's threat, Southampton failed to build on their growing danger culminating in Tadic's missed penalty.2014 December 13, Mandeep Sanghera, “Burnley 1-0 Southampton”, in BBC Sport

nounA subduing.

  • The quell of the rebellion raised Justinian to the acme of power.1903, Knowledge: A Monthly Record of Science
  • Hu had been supportive of Chiang's role throughout the northern expedition and the quell of southern rebellion.1978, Shiu Heng Chook, Chiang Kai-shek Close-up: A Personal View
  • The consequences have not been significant in terms of the quell of any of the three drugs into the United States.1994, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. international drug control policy: recent experience, future...

nounA source, especially a spring.

  • The strategists had access to a wide array of private polling and information from focus groups; a quell of information stretching back over his years as a state-wide candidate and office holder.2001, Hans-Dieter Klingemann, Andrea Römmele, Public Information Campaigns and Opinion Research: A Handbook for the Student and...

nounAn emotion or sensation which rises suddenly.

  • A quell of strength over took Robin with each of his words.2001, Zane Gates, The Cure, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 241
  • For a moment their eyes locked, and she felt a quell of anger rise above her apprehension.2011, Linda Lee Chaikin, Hawaiian Crosswinds, Moody Publishers, →ISBN
  • I felt a quell of alarm, that's quite expensive.2012, Molly Hopkins, It Happened at Boot Camp: Exclusive Novella, Hachette UK, →ISBN

More sentences with quell

  • We do not anticipate there will be US boots on the ground to help quell the violence.From the entry boot
  • The army was sent in to quell the uprising.From the entry army
  • Ruth knew that the whiteheads of her teenage acne were a temporary state of affairs, but that did nothing to quell her distress when an eruption hit just before prom.From the entry whitehead
  • He drew deeply there, quelling his intellectual insecurities and nourishing his fanatic ambitions.2009 January 2, Timothy W. Ryback, “First Chapter: Hitler’s Private Library”, in New York Times, retrieved 09 Aug 2015. From the entry Pierian Spring
  • So, did quacks cash in on this, fanfaring their own capacity to quell pain?1989, Roy Porter, Health for Sale: Quackery in England, 1660-1850, →ISBN, page 131. From the entry fanfare
  • But were any of those going to quell the uprising?2014, Danny Wallace, Who is Tom Ditto?. From the entry not on your nellie
  • She forced her eyes back to Creigh, drawing strength, hope from his beloved features, quelling the restirrings of fear.1988, Kimberly Cates, Crown of Mist, Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 322. From the entry restirring
  • Well, I can now see why ABC did not hop on the boards here to try and quell the disquiet the 'wedding' arc caused.1996 March 16, Zoomway, “Updated Spoilers on OW”, in alt.tv.lois-n-clark (Usenet). From the entry waff
  • When the fighting had at last been quelled, the government of Cyprus had asked the United Nations to send troops to keep the peace.1969, Boys' Life, volume 59, →ISSN. From the entry blue beret
  • While Karson and I rested under a tree, I thought of all the things I’d tried, without success, to quell my fears: extreme exercise, decaffeination, deep breathing, blue-green algae.2009 September 20, Victor Lodato, “Psychic Surgery”, in New York Times. From the entry decaffeination
  • They were called Haunebu, and a treasurer of the Eleventh Dynasty, whose duty was the maintenance of safe frontier ports, boasts of himself as one “who quells the Haunebu.”2003, James Henry Breasted, History of Egypt from the Earliest Time to the Persian Conquest, Kessinger Publishing, page 188. From the entry Haunebu

Meaning of quell

  1. verb To subdue, put down, or silence (someone or something); to force (someone) to submit.
  2. verb To suppress, to put an end to (something); to extinguish.
  3. verb To kill.

Full definition of quell

Questions about quell in a sentence

How do you use quell in a sentence?
Quell is used as a verb and noun. For example: “We do not anticipate there will be US boots on the ground to help quell the violence.”
What is a short sentence with quell?
“to quell grief”
What does quell mean?
Quell means to subdue, put down, or silence (someone or something); to force (someone) to submit.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: quell (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.

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