propel
Etymology

From Middle English propellen, from Latin propellō, from pro- ("forward") and pellō ("I push, I move").

Pronunciation
  • (British, America, Canada) IPA: /pɹəˈpɛl/
  • (Australia) IPA: /pɹəˈpel/
Verb

propel (third-person singular simple present propels, present participle propelling, simple past and past participle propelled)

  1. (transitive) To provide an impetus for motion or physical action; to cause to move in a certain direction; to drive forward.
    • 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC ↗; republished as chapter V, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC ↗:
      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.
  2. (transitive, figurative) To provide an impetus for nonphysical change; to cause to arrive to a certain situation or result.
Synonyms Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “either”): stay, halt, stop
  • (antonym(s) of “cause to move”): rest
Related terms Translations Translations


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