D defs.my
Entry 6 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Compel

/kəm-pĕl'/ · Com·pel · IPA /kəmˈpɛl/
01 v. t. To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to force; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force.
imp. & p. p. Compelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Compelling
  1. 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. 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.” Shak.
  3. 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. 4.
    To gather or unite in a crowd or company.[A Latinism]
  5. 5.
    To call forth; to summon.[Obs.]
    “She had this knight from far compelled.” Spenser.
02 v. i. To make one yield or submit.
  1. 1.
    To make one yield or submit.