rappel

[ ra-pel, ruh- ]

noun
  1. (in mountaineering) the act or method of moving down a steep incline or past an overhang by means of a double rope secured above and placed around the body, usually under the left thigh and over the right shoulder, and paid out gradually in the descent.

verb (used without object),rap·pelled, rap·pel·ling.
  1. to descend by means of a rappel.

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Origin of rappel

1
1930–35; <French: mountaineering term, literally, a recall. See repeal

Words Nearby rappel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rappel in a sentence

  • He paraglided, scuba dived, and even tried to rappel down Mt. Rushmore before he was rebuffed by park officials.

    Remembering JFK, Jr. | The Daily Beast | July 15, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Unfortunately Fox and rappel were beginning to tire; they sank deeper in the snow and no longer neighed joyfully.

    The Man-Wolf and Other Tales | Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian
  • The darkness was now such that I thought it prudent to drop my bridle on rappel's neck.

    The Man-Wolf and Other Tales | Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian
  • Ten times a day, or in the dead of night, the drum would beat le rappel or la générale.

    The Martian | George Du Maurier
  • Since six o'clock in the morning D'Aurelles had had the rappel beaten in the central quarters, but in vain.

  • The rappel had been beaten all night in the Batignolles, and had called out the sedentary guards and the youths.

British Dictionary definitions for rappel

rappel

/ (ræˈpɛl) /


verb-pels, -pelling or -pelled
  1. another word (esp US) for abseil

noun
  1. another word (esp US) for abseil

  2. (formerly) a drumbeat to call soldiers to arms

Origin of rappel

1
C19: from French, from rappeler to call back, from Latin appellāre to summon

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012