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  compeer compellation  
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   The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.
 
compel
 
SYLLABICATION:com·pel
PRONUNCIATION:  km-pl
TRANSITIVE VERB:Inflected forms: com·pelled, com·pel·ling, com·pels
1. To force, drive, or constrain: Duty compelled the soldiers to volunteer for the mission. 2. To necessitate or pressure by force; exact: An energy crisis compels fuel conservation. See synonyms at force. 3. To exert a strong, irresistible force on; sway: “The land, in a certain, very real way, compels the minds of the people” (Barry Lopez).
ETYMOLOGY:Middle English compellen, from Latin compellere : com-, com- + pellere, to drive; see pel-5 in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:com·pella·ble —ADJECTIVE
com·pella·bly —ADVERB
com·peller —NOUN
 
 
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
  compeer compellation  
 
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