impel, v.
(ɪmˈpɛl)
Also 7–8 impell.
[ad. L. impell-ĕre, in same senses, f. im- (im-1) + pellĕre to drive; cf. also obs. F. impeller (16th c. in Godef.).]
1. trans. To drive, force, or constrain (a person) to some action, or to do something, by acting upon his mind or feelings; to urge on, incite.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxii. 78 He was strongli impelled in his corage by y⊇ persuasions and harde lamentacions. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 588 Will chooseth, for in it doth lie both to will and to nill: which are againe impeld by other powers and faculties. 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 12 Not..upon their own motion, but as moved, impelled, and acted by God. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 68 Active its task, it prompts, impels, inspires. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxxi, I cannot tell what impels me to speak thus boldly. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 141 Human nature will impel him to seek pleasure instead of virtue. |
2. In literal sense: To drive or cause to move onward; to impart motion to; to propel.
| 1611 Florio, Impellere, to impell, to thrust violently,..to driue forward. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. iv. 80 This effluvium attenuateth and impelleth the neighbour ayre. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 316 O'er th' Elean Plains, thy well breath'd Horse Impels the flying Carr. 1793 Beddoes Calculus 175 The heart..impels the blood through the arteries. 1822 J. Imison Sc. & Art. I. 11 A ship impelled by the wind and tide. 1851 Hawthorne Ho. Sev. Gables xix. (1883) 338 Uncle Venner..impelling a wheelbarrow along the street. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. xiii. 245–6 One or two skiffs were coming home, impelled by reading men, who took their constitutionals on the water. |
b. To force (a thing) upon. rare.
| 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 108 He cried, You must accept them as a token of our loves; and so he constrained and impelled them upon me. |
Hence imˈpelled, imˈpelling ppl. adjs.
| 1685 Boyle Enq. Notion Nat. vi. 217 The generality of impelled bodies do move either upwards, downwards [etc.]. 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 71 The impelling force of the blood. 1858 Bushnell Serm. New Life 305 Force which is cumulative, growing stronger and more impelling as it goes. 1858 Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil., Hydrost., etc. 142 The impelling force acting only on one side of the centre. |