How to use repel in a sentence

32 example sentences · verb

Repel means to turn (someone) away from a privilege, right, job, etc. Example: “The victim held up his hand to repel the attacker and received a defensive knife wound.”

Examples of repel by meaning

verbTo 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

verbTo 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

verbTo save (a shot).

Arsenal pressed forward again after half-time but other than a venomous Walcott shot that Howard repelled with a fine one-handed save, the hosts offered little cutting edge.2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1-0 Everton”, in BBC Sport

More sentences with repel

The victim held up his hand to repel the attacker and received a defensive knife wound.From the entry defensive
The captain shouted at the crew to grab arms and repel boarders.From the entry boarder
Wooden structures in the tropics must be chemically treated to repel xylotomous pests.From the entry xylotomous
Her clownlike makeup repelled potential suitors.From the entry clownlike
An anti-icing coating helps repel the natural ice from the environment when touching the surface.2022, Satish A. Mahadik, Fernando Pedraza, Sarika S. Mahadik, “Sol-Gel-Based Multifunctional Superhydrophobic Coatings and Its [sic]…. From the entry glaciophobic
It was as though he was possessed of an invisible aura repelling incoming bodies. ‘Look.2009, Michela Wrong, It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle Blower. From the entry radioactive
Altruism attracts people to the user; martyrdom repels them even as it holds them close in chains.1995, George E. Vaillant, The Wisdom of the Ego, page 68. From the entry altruism
The strong anise odor of finocchio repels many insects from other vegetables.1983, Theodore James, The Gourmet Garden, page 44. From the entry finocchio
Text books are frequently and deterioratingly changed and the result is that they repel the students.1970, L. D. Gupta, A new venture in education, page 54. From the entry deterioratingly
What station or train staff has the specific duty of repelling would-be boarders?1956 April, K. H. Rudolph, “Fun with "Bradshaw"”, in Railway Magazine, page 253. From the entry boarder
A ship carries comparatively small guns to repel attacks by torpedo craft.1930, Stephen Lucius Gwynn, Captain Scott, page 112. From the entry gun-layer
And ambivalence is ambivalence mostly because it cannot be contemplated without ambivalent feeling: it is simultaneously attractive and repelling.”2020 January 28, Mairov Zonszein, “Christian Zionist philo-Semitism is driving Trump’s Israel policy”, in The Washington Post, archived…. From the entry ambivalent
In the more populous parts of the Pearl River Delta, local defense measures often sufficed to repel the pirates.2009, Diane O'Brien, Thomas O'Brien, The Making of the Modern World 1450 to Present, 3rd edition, Custom Publishing, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 189. From the entry Shun-te
For many, mummies fascinate more than repel.2007, S. T. Joshi, Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, volume 1, page 376. From the entry mummy
Their lives were spent, successfully, repelling information.1978, Gore Vidal, chapter 2, in Kalki: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 18. From the entry clear
Something within him repelled this motion of obedience.1917, Waldo David Frank, The Unwelcome Man: A Novel, page 108. From the entry laggardly
Man, repelled by his debt to a physical mother, created an alternate reality, a heterocosm to give him the illusion of freedom.1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae. From the entry heterocosm
As stated in previous reports, Ukrainian defenders in the settlements of Terny, Yampolivka, and Torske have repelled the Russian offensive effort and drained the Russians of their combat capabilities.2024 May 17th, “Reporting from Ukraine” (channel name), 16 May: RUSSIANS ARE FINISHED! Ukrainians EXHAUST Russian forces AND TAKE GROUND!…. From the entry Terny
Lo, returning from a strike, land at the Dulag Airstrip and are promptly handed carbines, given a foxhole, and told to help repel a Japanese infantry counterattack.2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 36:27 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov…. From the entry foxhole
How much more in extremities of more importance, as the quenching of a scathe fire, or defending of a city, or country, by repelling the invading or beleaguering enemy?2014, Henry Burton, C. Matthew McMahon, Therese B. McMahon, The Law and the Gospel Reconciled. From the entry scathefire
Not only is esfand directly endorsed by God and used by the Prophet Muhammad, but it also instills courage, expels demons and diseases, and repels the evil eye.2005, Fereshteh Davaran, Continuity in Iranian Identity: A Study of Andarz and Adab. From the entry esfand
In contrast, a water-repellent substance, for example, fluoric resin or Teflon, is extremely nonaffinitive with the oily oxime hydrochlorides and has a nature to repel it.1969, B. Albertson, Photochemical Processes, page 84. From the entry hydrochloride
The neurotic symptom in itself does not have solely the significance of repelling a drive for it also is a means of satisfying a desire in a clandescent manner.1940, Journal of Criminal Psychopathology, volume 2, page 96. From the entry clandescent
The tenure of Church lands was in "frankalmoigne," or "free alms." Tenants in frankalmoigne had only to perform the "three necessities"—to keep up highways, build castles, and repel invasions.1908, Mary A. M. Marks, chapter 3, in Landholding in England, page 23. From the entry frankalmoigne
Correct methods of encouraging retiring suitors or of repelling unwelcome ones was information that its members could scarcely be supposed at their birthdayless ages to require.1906, Grace Alexander, Judith. From the entry birthdayless
What was so dangerous about these sport-jacketed men and pencil-skirt-wearing women that they should be repelled by the cannon blasts of fire hoses or the snarling bite of attack dogs?2018 May 27, Robin Givhan, “How Activists in 1968 Harnessed Fashion to Fight the Status Quo”, in Valley News, volume 66, number 352, page E8. From the entry sport-jacketed
The anxious “overforward girl” adopted a boldness that might repel future mates and, if she crossed that hurdle, "leave a residue of female dominance" likely to prevent a successful marriage.2012, Susan Cahn, Sexual Reckonings: Southern Girls in a Troubling Age, page 205. From the entry overforward
An explanation of life phenomena that savors of the laboratory and chemism repels me, and an explanation that savors of the theological point of view is equally distasteful to me.1915 May, John Burroughs, “Preface”, in The Breath of Life, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, pages vi–vii. From the entry savour
It is a pleasure to handle these tasteful little Volumes, whose covers are not smeared with that unwelcome gilt which so often repels one in the case of similar shillingsworths.1914, The Cambridge Magazine, volume 4, page 121. From the entry shillingsworth

Meaning of repel

verb To turn (someone) away from a privilege, right, job, etc.
verb To reject, put off (a request, demand etc.).
verb To ward off (a malignant influence, attack etc.).

Full definition of repel

Questions about repel in a sentence

How do you use repel in a sentence?: Repel is used as a verb. For example: “The victim held up his hand to repel the attacker and received a defensive knife wound.”
What is a short sentence with repel?: “Her clownlike makeup repelled potential suitors.”
What does repel mean?: Repel means to turn (someone) away from a privilege, right, job, etc.

Adapted from Wiktionary: repel (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 repel in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/repel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.