Com*pel" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compelled (?); p. pr. & vb. n Compelling.] [L. compellere, compilstum, 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.
Shak.
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.
She had this knight from far compelled.
Spenser.
Syn. -- To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See Coerce.
© Webster 1913.
Com*pel" (?), v. i.
To make one yield or submit.
"If she can not entreat, I can not
compel."
Shak.
© Webster 1913.