English
repeal
Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /ɹəˈpiːl/
Verb

repeal (repeals, present participle repealing; past and past participle repealed)

  1. (transitive) To cancel, invalidate, annul.
    to repeal a law
    • c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act I, Scene 1,
      […] I here divorce myself
      Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,
      Until that act of parliament be repeal’d
      Whereby my son is disinherited.
    • 1776, Samuel Johnson, letter to James Boswell, cited in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, 1791, p. 8,
      As manners make laws, manners likewise repeal them.
    • 1791, Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, London: J.S. Jordan, p. 15,
      It requires but a very small glance of thought to perceive, that altho’ laws made in one generation often continue in force through succeeding generations, yet that they continue to derive their force from the consent of the living. A law not repealed continues in force, not because it cannot be repealed, but because it is not repealed; and the non-repealing passes for consent.
  2. To recall; to summon (a person) again; to bring (a person) back from exile or banishment.
    • 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II (play), London: William Jones,
      There weepe, for till my Gaueston be repeald,
      Assure thy selfe thou comst not in my sight.
    • c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II (play), Act II, Scene 2,
      The banish’d Bolingbroke repeals himself,
      And with uplifted arms is safe arrived […]
  3. To suppress; to repel.
    • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 7, lines 59-60,[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost_(1674)/Book_VII]
      Whence Adam soon repeal’d
      The doubts that in his heart arose.
Synonyms Translations Noun

repeal (plural repeals)

  1. An act or instance of repealing.


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