propel

propel

English

WOTD – 21 May 2009

Etymology

From Middle English propellen (“drive out, expel”), from Latin propellō, from pro- (“forward”) and pellō (“I push, I move”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈpɛl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Verb

propel (third-person singular simple present propels, present participle propelling, simple past and past participle propelled)

1. (transitive) To provide an impetus for motion or physical action, to cause to move in a certain direction; to drive forward.
   • 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., OCLC 18478577; republished as chapter V, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, volume 1, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, OCLC 988016180:

     When it had advanced from the wood, it hopped much after the fashion of a kangaroo, using its hind feet and tail to propel it, and when it stood erect, it sat upon its tail.

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, OCLC 246633669, PC, scene: Mass Relays Codex entry:

     Primary mass relays can propel ships thousands of light years, often from one spiral arm of the galaxy to another.

2. (transitive, figurative) To provide an impetus for non-physical change, to make to arrive to a certain situation or result.
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 265e.

     I can discern your nature and see that even without any arguments (logoi) from me it will propel you to what you say you are drawn towards,

   • 2020 November 7, Chelsea Janes, “Kamala Harris, daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, elected nation’s first female vice president”, in Washington Post‎:

     Black women helped propel Harris and president-elect Joe Biden to victory by elevating turnout in places like Detroit, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

Synonyms

• (either): drive, push

Antonyms

• (either): stay, halt, stop
• (cause to move): rest

Derived terms

• propeller

Related terms

• propulsion

Translations

to cause to move in a certain direction

Armenian: առաջ մղել (aṙaǰ młel) Bulgarian: бутам (bg) (butam), тласкам (bg) (tlaskam) Czech: hnát (cs), pohánět (cs) Esperanto: propulsi Finnish: liikuttaa (fi), kuljettaa (fi), työntää (fi) French: propulser (fr), catapulter (fr) German: antreiben (de) Ido: propulsar (io), movar (io) Italian: propellere Latin: prōpellō Maori: whakaneke, tītoko, whakawhana Portuguese: propulsar Russian: дви́гать (ru) (dvígatʹ), продвига́ть (ru) (prodvigátʹ) Scottish Gaelic: spàrr Spanish: propulsar (es) Tocharian B: kärsk-

to make to arrive to a certain situation or result

Armenian: խթանել (hy) (xtʿanel) Bulgarian: карам (bg) (karam), движа (bg) (dviža) Czech: hnát (cs), pohánět (cs) Finnish: aiheuttaa (fi), johdattaa (fi) French: catapulter (fr) Italian: catapultare (it), spingere (it) Scottish Gaelic: cuir air adhart Spanish: , propulsar (es) Spanish: impulsar (es)

Anagrams

• lopper

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Danish

Alternative forms

• (rare) propeller

Etymology

From English propeller.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /propɛl/, [pʰʁ̥oˈpɛlˀ]

Noun

propel c (singular definite propellen, plural indefinite propeller)

1. propeller (mechanical device used to propel)

Inflection

Declension of propel

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	propel	propellen	propeller	propellerne
genitive	propels	propellens	propellers	propellernes

See also

• propel on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da