compelcom‧pel /kəmˈpel/ ●●○ verb (past tense and past participle compelled, present participle compelling) [transitive] 
The law will compel employers to provide health insurance. She felt compelled to resign because of the scandal.► see thesaurus at force2formal to make people have a particular feeling or attitude: His performance compelled the audience’s attention.
WORD ORIGINcompel
Origin:
1300-1400 Latin compellere, from com- ( ➔ COM-) + pellere ‘to drive’VERB TABLE
compel
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | compel |
| he, she, it | compels | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | compelled |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have compelled |
| he, she, it | has compelled | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had compelled |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will compel |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have compelled |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am compelling |
| he, she, it | is compelling | |
| you, we, they | are compelling | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was compelling |
| you, we, they | were compelling | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been compelling |
| he, she, it | has been compelling | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been compelling |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be compelling |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been compelling |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- All the young men in the area were compelled to work in the quarries and coal mines.
- Chang's performance compels attention.
- The attorney general has the right to compel witnesses to appear in court.
- Christians had been compelled to give up meetings for corporate worship, but still kept up small prayer meetings in houses.
- Force is the precondition for compelling the majority of people to accept this pretension.
- He takes border stereotypes and presents them in interesting and compelling ways.
- I think every guy who can scribble slightly better than he dribbles has felt compelled to share the same old tale.
- It is also a satisfying behind-the-scenes tour for foodies, full of compelling characters and anecdotes.
- So there was a compelling push for change in science.
- The ombudsman will have power to recommend that a lawyer or professional body pay compensation, but not to compel payment.
- The other compelling element of this marine encounter is the sheer physical and imaginative space that such a gathering entails.
THESAURUS
to make someone do something they do not want to do. Used when people or situations make you do something: · They were beaten and forced to confess to crimes they had not committed.· The drought forced millions of farmers to sell their cattle.
to force someone to do something by using pressure, threats, or violence. Make somebody do something is more common than force somebody to do something in everyday English: · Her parents disapproved of Alex and they made her stop seeing him.· Two men with guns made the staff hand over the money.
(also pressurize British English) to try to force someone to do something by making them feel that they should do it: · Some employers pressure their staff into working very long hours.· She felt they were trying to pressurize her into getting married.
to force someone to give you money or do what you want by threatening to tell embarrassing secrets about them: · She tried to blackmail him with photographs of them together at the hotel.
formal to force someone to do something using official power or authority. Also used when someone has to do something because of their situation: · The town was surrounded and compelled to surrender.· I felt compelled to offer them some kind of explanation.· You are compelled by law to carry an ID card.
formal to force someone to do something by threatening them: · Local people were coerced into joining the rebel army.
formal if someone is obliged to do something, they must do it because it is the law or the rule, or because of the situation they are in: · You are not obliged to say anything which may harm your defence in court.· They were obliged to sell the land.
Longman Language Activatorto force someone do something by using threats or violence · If you don't comply I'm afraid we'll have to force you.force somebody to do something · Thieves had tied him up and forced him to lie on the floor.· All the hostages were forced to hand over their passports.force somebody into (doing) something · She claimed she was forced to take part in the robbery by her husband.
to force someone to do something by using violence or threats: · I didn't want to take part in the attack but the soldiers made me.make somebody do something: · They made sales staff open the safe.be made to do something: · The couple were made to hand over all their money and jewellery.
written to force someone to do something that they do not want to do by threatening that something bad might happen to them if they do not do it: · Ray withdrew his confession, saying that he had been coerced by the police.coerce somebody into doing something: · The mine owners coerced the workers into going back to work, by threatening to close down the mines completely.· Officials coerced peasants into voting for the government candidates. coerce somebody to do something: · The company paid the workers the minimum rate of $4.86 an hour, but coerced some to give back half their pay in cash.
formal to make someone do something by using force or official power: compel somebody to do something: · All the young men in the area were compelled to work in the quarries and coal mines.· The attorney general has the right to compel witnesses to appear in court.
informal to force someone to do something by shouting at them, treating them badly, or using threats: · Don't let the salesman bully you -- it's your choice.bully somebody into doing something: · If you try and bully him into giving you the money he's sure to say no -- you should try and persuade him gently.bully somebody into something: · Ben didn't want to study law, but his father bullied him into it by threatening to cut off his allowance.
to force someone to give you money or do what you want, by threatening to tell embarrassing secrets about them: · Gina tried to blackmail him, by threatening to tell his wife about their affair.blackmail somebody into doing something: · The FBI blackmailed her into informing on the other members of the gang.
if someone uses force , they hit, shoot, or use other forms of violence against people in order to make them do something or stop them from doing something: · The regime was quite willing to use force and terror against its enemies. · The law permits every citizen to use reasonable force to defend themselves or their property.use force against: · The police have recently had to defend their policy of using force against rioters.
violence or the threat of violence, used to force someone to do something: · The police have been accused of using strongarm tactics when breaking up strikes and public demonstrations.use strongarm tactics/methods to do something: · More and more credit companies are using strongarm methods to collect debts.
if someone does something under duress , they only agree to do it because they have been threatened, not because they want to do it: · The defendants claimed that their confessions were made under duress.· Judge Mershon ruled that the agreement was signed under duress, and was therefore null and void.
to be forced to do something because of a bad situation: force somebody to do something · They had so little money that they were forced to sell the farm.· They were halfway up the mountain, when the weather became so bad that they were forced to turn back. force somebody into something · Here, girls are often forced into prostitution because they have no other means of earning money.
if something, especially someone else's behaviour drives someone to do something, it has such a bad effect on them that it forces them to take extreme action: drive somebody to do something: · At the trial, she claimed that years of abuse from her violent husband had driven her to kill him.drive somebody to despair/desperation etc: · Many farmers claim that they have been driven to desperation by the latest blow to the industry.drive somebody to drink (=make someone drink alcohol all the time in order to forget their situation): · This job's enough to drive anyone to drink!drive somebody into doing something: · Her mother's continual nagging drove her into running away from home.
to be forced to do something because it is the only thing you can do even though you may not want to do it: · We had to leave them there. We had no choice.· Firefighters said they had to knock down the remaining walls - they have no other option.leave somebody with no choice/option but to do something: · You leave me with no option but to resign.leave somebody with no choice/ option: · The business was failing, and in the end we had to close it down. We were left with no choice.
formal if a bad situation compels someone to do something they do not want to do, they are forced to do it because they feel there is nothing else they can do: · The high cost of materials will compel manufacturers to increase their prices.· These people are compelled by poverty to commit crime.
to be forced to accept a very unhappy situation because there is nothing else you can do: be condemned to do something: · The rich lived in luxury while thousands were condemned to live a life of poverty and despair.be condemned to something: · The island was condemned to centuries of colonial rule.· The accident condemned her to a lifetime of pain and disability.
when you feel that you should do something because it would be right · Everyone will be expecting me so I have to go.· I must write and thank her for the lovely flowers she sent me.must/have to · I don't really want to spend Christmas with my family, but I suppose I have to.
to feel that you should do something because other people expect you to do it and will be disappointed or upset if you do not: · I felt obliged to invite all my family, although I didn't really want to.
formal to feel very strongly that you must do something, because it is the right thing to do and people expect you to do it: · No one should feel compelled to take part. It should be voluntary.· I felt compelled to say something in Henry's defence.
formal to feel that it is your moral duty to do something: · I feel impelled to write and tell you how disappointed I am with your newspaper.· Sarah felt impelled to stay at home and look after her parents.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY She felt compelled to resign because of the scandal. His performance compelled the audience’s attention.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
She felt compelled to resign because of the scandal. His performance compelled the audience’s attention. (=making you feel sure that something is true)· The data provides compelling evidence that the climate is changing.
· He became seriously ill and was compelled to retire two years later.
(=a very good reason for doing something)· There are compelling reasons to believe that this is true.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· The road to depression Even so, parallels with the 1930s are far more compelling now than they were in 1987.· It did not seem odd to him that the subway held more compelling things than the famous city above.· The further capitalism developed the more compelling the Marxist analysis became.· But families believe in their myths for reasons more compelling than respect for the versatility of metaphor.· This attitude is part and parcel of the disease and the more advanced the illness, the more compelling it may become.
· The most compelling lesson of this marathon legal affair is that truth is no shining city on a hill.· Which brings us to the most compelling detail in this stunt: the romantic disguise the virus wore.· Historically, the most compelling idea concerning meaning has been that meaning is some sort of entity or thing.· Nicolas Werth's excellent 235 pages on cycles of violence in the Soviet Union is the most compelling section of the book.· C., are the most compelling parts of his journey.· When an Olympic event incorporates brawling with the paparazzi into its most compelling moments, something has gone horribly wrong.· As Romantic drama evolves, the pariah soon becomes the most compelling of characters.
· It is this potency that makes him so compelling a figure.· Relatively few sites are so compelling that Web surfers make it a point to visit every day.· It was so compelling for them that no one even asked for a bathroom stop.
NOUN· The conclusion of an argument is compelling only if its premises are accepted.
· Once again, he shuffled the recalcitrant deck, smiling too broadly, compelling their attention.· Movement compels attention, and the use of colour and sound heightens reality.· He evidently found the new idiom interestingly problematic, but not attractive enough to compel his full attention.
· Will the courts compel individuals to provide their passwords?· Prosecutors, grand jurors, marshals and court stenographers are legally compelled not to reveal what happens in the grand jury room.· If violations can not be satisfactorily resolved, the U. S. Department of Labor may bring action in court to compel compliance.
· Taken together, they are fairly compelling evidence of prejudice.· But perhaps the most vivid and compelling evidence of this highly developed colour sensibility is the artefacts themselves.· Ten soldiers had not been compelled to give evidence and had indicated they would not attend the inquest.· However, the officer in charge of the investigation said it was the only way to gather compelling evidence.
· Barring a compelling reason, governments should not discriminate between classes of citizens.· The market economy at its best has certain biases and shortcomings which compel government to supplement and modify its operation.· Some analysts said the fall of Shaba could compel the government to negotiate with the rebels.
· For a discussion of whether an expert can be compelled to give reasons for his decision, see 13.7.8.· But there are a number of compelling reasons to stand in line.· This case also established the important principle that issues 13.7.8 Reasons Can the expert be compelled to produce reasons for his decision?· He was energetic, headstrong, and unorthodox-and he had compelling reasons for reducing the ruinously expensive Soviet nuclear arsenal.· Barring a compelling reason, governments should not discriminate between classes of citizens.· In the spring of 1978, it was dusted off for a more compelling reason, namely domestic politics.· Thus the question becomes: is there a compelling reason to bar homosexuals from marriage?· This is the single compelling reason to be speaking of diseases / disorders.
VERB· Even Mr Lukashenko, like Mr Milosevic before him, feels compelled to feign democracy.· Even Massachusetts felt compelled to expel many free blacks.· Reading him like this, so stripped of context, you no longer feel compelled to read the poems as a student.· So, of course, I felt compelled to look.· His lips trembled, and he felt strangely compelled to shout a defiant slogan.· Reno apparently felt compelled to deny not just that she was a lesbian, but that she had any sexuality at all.· I share this hesitation; but I also feel compelled to face reality.· Why was it that Miguel felt compelled to somehow break with Spider on amicable terms?
· Mark Winston in Nature Wars provides a compelling account of why this has happened.· And they actually provide some compelling answers.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1to force someone to do somethingcompel somebody to do something- A glance at the provisions of the Convention makes interesting reading.
- He also has a collection of Rentokil news letters going back to his early days which made for fascinating reading after dinner.
- His observations may make interesting reading.
- In the context of the £33 million earmarked for 20 City Technology Colleges, that figure makes interesting reading.
- Its Report was published in 1867 and makes fascinating reading.
- The guidance, when it appears, should make interesting reading.
- The report I commissioned on you makes for interesting reading.
- This, unlike the first one, makes interesting reading, and is referred to continually.
The law will compel employers to provide health insurance. She felt compelled to resign because of the scandal.► see thesaurus at force2formal to make people have a particular feeling or attitude: His performance compelled the audience’s attention.