noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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US:/ɹəˈpiːl/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -iːl
CMU ARPABET:R IH0 P IY1 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:R IY0 P IY1 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An act or instance of repealing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
Wednesday June 02, 2021, Has the Northern Ireland Protocol undermined the United Kingdom? When a newer Act of Parliament is incompatible with earlier law, it usually takes precedence, under the doctrine of “implied repeal”.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
verb
Meaning 2
To cancel, invalidate, annul.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
to repeal a law
1776, Samuel Johnson, letter to James Boswell, cited in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, 1791, p. 8, As manners make laws, manners likewise repeal them.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To recall; to summon (a person) again; to bring (a person) back from exile or banishment.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To suppress; to repel.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
the act of abrogating; an official or legal cancellation
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Narrower terms: renege, renege on, renegue on, go back on
History
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman repeler, from Old French rapeler (“to call back, call in, call after, revoke”), from Latin repellō (“drive or thrust back”), from re- and pellō (“push or strike”). Doublet of repel.
Across languages
Translations
40 source translations are retained for this English entry.
