dispel
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to drive off in various directions; disperse; dissipate.
to dispel the dense fog.
- Antonyms:
- gather
-
to cause to vanish; alleviate.
to dispel her fears.
verb
Related Words
See scatter.
Other Word Forms
- dispellable adjective
- dispeller noun
- undispellable adjective
- undispelled adjective
Etymology
Origin of dispel
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin dispellere “to drive asunder,” equivalent to dis- dis- 1 + pellere “to drive”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I couldn’t find the knowledge I needed to dispel this sense of unease that was pervading my body,” Cobb told the Edmonton Journal.
While all the students and professional spies I met are trim and athletic, Prof Crettiez is also keen to dispel the myth of James Bond-like adventure.
From BBC
Next year, Ravinder and Gita will have been married for half a century, the trepidations of youth dispelled by time.
The report also dispels a common view that guns are mainly owned by rural residents.
From BBC
"I worked so hard to dispel that all my life and here I was being accused of it."
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
