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Webster 1913 Edition

Compel

Com-pel′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Compelled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Compelling
.]
[L.
compellere
,
compulsum
, to drive together, to compel, urge;
com-
+
pellere
to drive: cf. OF.
compellir
. See
Pulse
.]
1.
To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to force; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force.
Wolsey . . .
compelled
the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once.
Hallam.
And they
compel
one Simon . . . to bear his cross.
Mark xv. 21.
2.
To take by force or violence; to seize; to exact; to extort.
[R.]
Commissions, which
compel
from each
The sixth part of his substance.
Shakespeare
3.
To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
Easy sleep their weary limbs
compelled
.
Dryden.
I
compel
all creatures to my will.
Tennyson.
4.
To gather or unite in a crowd or company.
[A Latinism]
“In one troop
compelled
.”
Dryden.
5.
To call forth; to summon.
[Obs.]
Chapman.
Syn. – To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See
Coerce
.

Com-pel′

,
Verb.
I.
To make one yield or submit.
“If she can not entreat, I can compel.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Compel

COMPEL

, v.t.
1.
To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force.
Thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bound servant. Levit. 25.
And they compel one Simon--to bear his cross. Mark 15.
Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. Luke 14.
Circumstances compel us to practice economy.
2.
To force; to take by force, or violence; to seize.
The subjects grief comes through commissions, which compel from each a sixth part of his substance.
3.
To drive together; to gather; to unite in a crowd or company. A Latinism, compellere gregem.
In one troop compelled.
4.
To seize; to overpower; to hold.
And easy sleep their weary limbs compelled.
5.
To call forth, L. compeller.

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