Expel

How to spell expel

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce expel

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does expel mean?

1. verbTo officially force someone to leave a school, organisation, or place, or to drive something out by force.

Expel in a sentence

• The head teacher decided to expel the two students for cheating.

• The committee voted to expel the member who broke the rules.

Where does expel come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes directly from the Latin verb expellere, which meant 'to drive out' or 'to thrust away'. It was built from the prefix ex-, meaning 'out', and the verb pellere, meaning 'to drive, push, or beat'. English borrowed it in the late 1300s, originally in the sense of forcing someone or something out by force. The same pellere root drives a whole family of English words, including 'compel' (drive together), 'repel' (drive back), 'propel' (drive forward), and 'dispel' (drive apart), which is a useful clue: like its relatives, it keeps a single l in the base form, even though the noun 'expulsion' switches to an s spelling. That single final l is the spelling trap, since the past tense doubles it to 'expelled'.

How the word is built

• ex- (out)
• pel (drive, push, from Latin pellere 'to drive')