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propel
in a sentence

show 188 more with this conextual meaning
  • The early-afternoon sun sparkled on the water where dozens of miniature boats sailed, propelled by a crisp breeze.†   (source)
  • I kicked at him and pushed away through the water with my arms, and finally, I was able to propel myself beyond his grasp.†   (source)
  • "Imbuing violence with holy meaning," wrote the historian Iris Chang, "the Japanese imperial army made violence a cultural imperative every bit as powerful as that which propelled Europeans during the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition."†   (source)
  • I was under way, propelled by an imperative that was beyond my ability to control or comprehend.†   (source)
  • His face cut through the frigid air as he began the descent, moving through the substance called snow on the vehicle called sled, which propelled itself on what he now knew without doubt to be runners.†   (source)
  • We had to walk five blocks, Walter propelling me by the elbow.†   (source)
  • Peter gets up and propels me toward the door; he keeps one hand on the small of my back.†   (source)
  • Your head goes like this, thus creating buoyancy; your feet go like this, thus propelling you forward; your arms go like this to steer you.†   (source)
  • Propelled by countless gears, the sphere slowly rotated.†   (source)
  • To propel.†   (source)
  • Off we went on this Hindu rite of passage, Mother carrying me, Auntie propelling her.†   (source)
  • I can't go very fast, but I can propel myself down the hall with just a little lever on the handrail.†   (source)
  • Great squid propelling themselves over the floor of the sea in the cold darkness.†   (source)
  • A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.†   (source)
  • The three of them leapt down from the wall to the ground, and they ran, using their arms as much as their legs to propel themselves through the graveyard, to the ghoul-gate by the lightning tree.†   (source)
  • I hear my name and a shudder propels me forward.†   (source)
  • My mind was still humming with the images I had seen, my limbs somehow still propelling me under the water.†   (source)
  • He felt his legs spring up and propel him toward Jen's dad.†   (source)
  • An involuntary reflex propelled me to my feet.†   (source)
  • They grinned down at us, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.†   (source)
  • We had two RPG tubes and five propelled grenades.†   (source)
  • Beside my mother on the bed, she saw a tiny demon spring bolt upright—propelled by such a sudden and unreal force that my grandmother imagined the little creature was preparing to fly.†   (source)
  • I wanted to stay and explore, but Calpurnia propelled me up the aisle ahead of her.†   (source)
  • He learned how to jump in front of the gusher and let it propel him halfway across the street.†   (source)
  • The director propelled his wheelchair back into the fog-filled living room.†   (source)
  • Certain conditions propel a stream of dry air from the mountains to the shoreline.†   (source)
  • For example, he taught me to kick with my feet while paddling (with only one arm, you don't have lot of power to propel yourself).†   (source)
  • Propelled from the depths of her ignorance, silly imagining and girlish rectitude, she had come to call a halt.†   (source)
  • An ornithopter is defined as an experimental device propelled by flapping wings.†   (source)
  • He could have taken any of the corridors that branched off to the left and right of him, but something-a feeling, an instinct-propelled him forward.†   (source)
  • As if someone has turned a crank in my back, I am propelled forward, one foot in front of the other.†   (source)
  • Buckley raced out of the kitchen and charged, propelling his full weight into my father's legs.†   (source)
  • It was off below us a ways but climbing fast, its muscular tongues punching into the mud and propelling it up the ridge like a spider.†   (source)
  • Propelled by a curiosity greater than any awe for the magistrate, he came slowly across the room and peered over his child's shoulder.†   (source)
  • Before I know it, my feet are propelling the rest of my body toward them.†   (source)
  • I grab his arm and begin to propel him through the jungle after Finnick.†   (source)
  • And with all the strength he could gather, he thrust the open basket toward the lanista, propelling the snake into the air.†   (source)
  • The words propelled her on.†   (source)
  • She heard the baffles of the water and felt the movement of the canoe as he propelled it forward, away from the pull of the creek.†   (source)
  • He walked out of the fire station and along the midnight street toward the subway where the silent air-propelled train slid soundlessly down its lubricated flue in the earth and let him out with a great puff of warm air onto the cream-tiled escalator rising to the suburb.†   (source)
  • It propelled them faster than they expected.†   (source)
  • When every single ounce of my body is poured into propelling me forward, leaving me committedly focused on my next step and nothing else.†   (source)
  • Inside the Venetian, gondoliers propelled themselves down a real canal, with real, chemical-smelling water, as costumed opera singers sang Stille Nacht and Ave Maria under artificial skies.†   (source)
  • He puts a hand on my elbow and propels me up the stairs, through the door, and into the living room, where Carol and Mrs. Scharff are waiting for us, smiling.†   (source)
  • Propelling the heavy old bike made his emptiness much worse.†   (source)
  • UMBRIDGE is propelled backwards through the air.†   (source)
  • Seems to be self-propelled.†   (source)
  • There was a broken switch somewhere inside, or a circuit breaker that didn't work, and he had been propelled down the chute willynilly, slowly at first, then accelerating as Stovington applied its pressures on him.†   (source)
  • Ashley propelled herself out of the glider.†   (source)
  • She unfurled her wings, ran toward the edge of the building, and propelled them over it with her powerful legs.†   (source)
  • The cheese is used to propel mortar rounds.†   (source)
  • The remnants of a field… or force… which has actually propelled the Tombs and their contents backward in time from some distant future.†   (source)
  • He sounded like a small child reciting the alphabet from the beginning in an attempt to propel his mind to whatever follows "G."†   (source)
  • Some were carrying rocket-propelled grenades.†   (source)
  • But the force that propelled Holmes seemed to exist outside the world of Geyer's experience.†   (source)
  • The octopus was now careening around the aquarium, propelling itself in motions like the opening and closing of an umbrella.†   (source)
  • And we propelled the bewildered old man across to the Beje.†   (source)
  • That's a rocket-propelled grenade.†   (source)
  • It is the soft thup of a thick wrestler's loogie being propelled through a rolled-up tongue.†   (source)
  • I propelled my legs through several yards, leapt over fences and hid next to some trash cans in an alley.†   (source)
  • Chew it briefly, then propel it swiftly from the end of the tongue.†   (source)
  • Basta propelled her and Elinor toward number 4.†   (source)
  • A red double-decker bus propelled by an air bubble floated up and down the silent street.†   (source)
  • One guard even threw himself onto her body, but before he could lay a finger on her, Perenelle 's aura caught him and propelled him high into the wall with enough force to knock the motorcycle helmet off his head.†   (source)
  • Valentine roared, raising the black-star sword again, and Clary heard the truth of who he was in his voice, the rage that had propelled him all his life.†   (source)
  • I thus made my way as quietly as possible to a position from which I could execute such a march, and clutching my implements firmly about me, succeeded in propelling myself through the doorway and several paces down the corridor before a somewhat astonished Miss Kenton could recover her wits.†   (source)
  • So we spent a good thirty minutes on our lawn-mower-motor-propelled ships, ramming each other and turning wild twists, and then we got bored and left of our own accord.†   (source)
  • That if the victim is propelled against an object—let's say it's gravel— his own forward motion might produce the observed injury?"†   (source)
  • It is propelled into the air, it continues its path over the earth, but will eventually be drawn toward the earth.†   (source)
  • But with my newly and dearly bought assurance I could give myself up to the rhythms and let them propel me where they willed.†   (source)
  • She helped him off with his clothes and propelled him to the bathroom.†   (source)
  • But instead of being on a table the pigs were arranged on a long black container, and as I started to realize what it was the fingers propelling my legs tightened and moved me closer.†   (source)
  • Scrambling forward, I took the stairs two at a time, using the banister to propel me faster.†   (source)
  • His leg pains flared up, flashed through his body, and the laundry odors, the steamy stench, all at once sickened him, picked him up and propelled him out the door.†   (source)
  • "Namakieb!" shouted the salt man, propelling his push-cart laden with a mound of moist, congealed salt.†   (source)
  • He still seemed very troubled and his trouble now propelled him toward her again, to the bed.†   (source)
  • Then I leap, throwing every ounce of muscle into propelling myself through the air.†   (source)
  • Phoebe's thin wails rose in the darkness, propelling Caroline across the asphalt and past the wide blank squares of light, to the automatic doors of the grocery store.†   (source)
  • I tried to keep up with her, but it was like the wind had caught her heels and was propelling her forward.†   (source)
  • She saw Artkin erupt from the van, propelled awkwardly onto the tracks, off balance, like a skater out of control, careening wildly.†   (source)
  • Often they have been propelled by exceptionally bright and driven social entrepreneurs who had encountered the "treetops" efforts and modified them to create far more effective bottom-up models.†   (source)
  • Swimming the sidestroke, I kicked long, deep, and slow, propelling myself quickly, trying to stay in formation with the others.†   (source)
  • You aren't being propelled around the track by a motor or pulled by a hitch.†   (source)
  • An enemy rocket-propelled grenade had struck their helicopter, and the resulting explosion and impact killed everyone on board.†   (source)
  • There is nothing back there, only your family's unconditional love and that will always propel you forward.†   (source)
  • Nowadays, my brothers, take your lessons from the Kalashnikov and rocket-propelled grenade.†   (source)
  • Their knees must have felt so weak that blinding hunger alone could have propelled them forward.†   (source)
  • He fell into the room and there was Cassie's brother crab-crawling toward the window and somehow Evan remained upright, something held him up and propelled him toward the child, hand outstretched, I'm here, remember me?†   (source)
  • He sprang, propelling himself toward me.†   (source)
  • Unlike our father, who spent his life in the clouds, my mother was propelled through the universe by the brute force of reason.†   (source)
  • Aven grabbed them both and propelled them toward the stairs, where Bert and Artus were already following closely behind Charles.†   (source)
  • Reluctantly, I get up and we walk, Stephen propelling his bike by one hand on the seat.†   (source)
  • Now I knew what propelled her, what was behind that icy gaze.†   (source)
  • 'And suppose, when he reached the swamp waters and heard the sounds of our carriage going away, that he had strength enough to propel those limbs to move.†   (source)
  • I was propelled forward by the thought of revenge.†   (source)
  • He had momentum, and he propelled her before him backward in his driving rush until her knees buckled against the side of the bed and she fell over onto the mattress with Yossarian sprawled on top of her between her legs.†   (source)
  • He recited the entire passage from Hebrews 11:1 and noted how Cedric was propelled by "the love of his mother, Barbara, who never wavered in her belief that he would succeed."†   (source)
  • The disappointment that propels them from woman to woman gives their inconstancy a kind of romantic excuse, so that many sentimental women are touched by their unbridled philandering.†   (source)
  • Whatever the liquid was had now spread, propelled by my shoe, and I froze, so as not to send it any farther.†   (source)
  • Being in that unaltered room propels a thumbing back through time and memory.†   (source)
  • Tom propelled Tanis into the forest.†   (source)
  • You aren't being propelled around the track by a motor or pulled by a hitch.†   (source)
  • He finally collapsed when his limbs could no longer find the strength to propel him forward.†   (source)
  • I find by letting go I can harness the complex currents of my life to propel me forward.†   (source)
  • And that had probably been the least of my injuries, given the explosion that had propelled me into the vacuum to begin with.†   (source)
  • "Now see here," he began, leaping to his feet to lean across the table, and I spun my chair half around on its hind legs as he came between me and the light, gripping the edge of the table, spluttering and lapsing into a foreign language, choking and coughing and shaking his head as I balanced on my toes now, set to propel myself forward; seeing him above me and the others behind him as suddenly something seemed to erupt out of his face.†   (source)
  • He could feel the tears welling up, but what was propelling them was a fierce, burning pride.†   (source)
  • The oars—or sweeps—used to propel the boats were eighteen feet long.†   (source)
  • She gestured down the block and let him propel her down the sidewalk.†   (source)
  • He had to remember now; instinct had to propel him through his personal mists.†   (source)
  • There was nothing I could do for Faith, or for Aphra, so I gave way to my craven impulse and fled from that place as fast as my legs would propel me.†   (source)
  • This strategy helped me prevail over Mother, served as my protective shield while I was in foster care, and propelled me into the air force.†   (source)
  • Now Annie, with no such excuse, felt herself propelled by pitiless genes to replicate the pattern with Grace.†   (source)
  • This realization propels her away from the crash site, around the burning trees, into the moonlit forest, wading through straggly underbrush, then along a deer trail powdered with silver light and dappled with shadow, to another meadow, to a ridge from which she sees the lights of Loose Change Ranch.†   (source)
  • Caroline waited until he had generously salted and peppered his potatoes, then she laid her elbows on the table and propelled herself a bit closer to it and thus to him.†   (source)
  • The sense of passing time, of endings and finality, propelled me forward.†   (source)
  • The longer we waited, the more I prepared for a rocket-propelled grenade to tear through the door.†   (source)
  • Propelled by the sound, Mattie rocked her out of that bed, out of that room, into a blue vastness just underneath the sun and above time.†   (source)
  • Four of the limbs were thick, elephantine columns of muscle and flesh that bore the brunt of the creature's weight and propelled it forward.†   (source)
  • The next thing Deo knew, the next thing he would remember being aware of, his little crowd of refugees had disappeared, and he was on a hillside, and all around him people were running, propelled, it seemed, by screams from the town to the east.†   (source)
  • They stopped, like men on an ocean liner propelled by ten-thousand-horsepower generators, but perishing for lack of a safety pin.†   (source)
  • She tells how Mandiki boasted that his cousin had radioed from Shawshe; he'd fired rocket-propelled grenades at the jeeps as they approached from Tiro, and escaped into the brush.†   (source)
  • Attempting to correct this, the pilot mistakenly feathered (shut off and locked) his other right-side propel- ler.†   (source)
  • These guys didn't have rubber, so it wasn't the kind that you could stretch back and snap to propel stones.†   (source)
  • My feet push jerkily against the pedals, propelling me forward, but the handlebars have a mind of their own.†   (source)
  • Many say that the notoriety he gained propelled him to the Democratic nomination and the governorship.†   (source)
  • Her sword whistled through the air, but the wolf streaked to the side, then barreled into her with a force that propelled her, had her skidding on her back, and her sword flying away.†   (source)
  • Now propel him toward the finish.†   (source)
  • Was that how he was propelled into joy?†   (source)
  • Merrick scooted ahead of them on her old wooden Kiddie Kar, propelling it with her feet.†   (source)
  • Drizzt understood what had happened when he heard Guenhwyvar's padded paws set down on the table and propel the cat further across the room.†   (source)
  • Lysa seized her by the wrist and put her other hand between her shoulder blades, propelling her forcefully toward the open door.†   (source)
  • We made our slingshots from forked tree limbs and red real-rubber bands we cut from old inner tubes (the black synthetic inner tubes didn't have the necessary snap to propel a marble or small rock).†   (source)
  • The small explosion that results pushes the piston down, turning the crankshaft and propelling the car.†   (source)
  • The ground floor of Natalie's building was filled with bullets, artillery shells, rocket-propelled grenades, and guns of every sort.†   (source)
  • However, no sooner was he stretched out than he sat bolt upright, his head and shoulders suddenly propelled into view, with somewhat the macabre-comic effect of a corpse falling out of a closet.†   (source)
  • The others took to leaping as high into the air as their bowed little legs would propel them; coming down with a satisfying thump on Albert's vulnerable belly.†   (source)
  • Anger propelled him to his feet; his legs were stiff from sitting for so long.†   (source)
  • His air-cars were propelled by forces which the Wright brothers would have understood.†   (source)
  • The can hit the floor, something broke, and with a great outsurge of pressure the stuff commenced atomizing, propelling the can swiftly about the bathroom.†   (source)
  • Defying habit, I had for several days risen just past dawn, propelled to my table by the electric urgency I have described, and had written steadily for two hours or more.†   (source)
  • A demon wind propelled me east of the sun.†   (source)
  • There was a big red self-propelled combine parked under the tallest of the tamaracks, beside it a yellow self-unloading wagon of newly combined wheat, beyond that a rusty corn chopper, two old tractors, a Gravely lawn mower, the school bus Ben had bought from the Alexander Central system, Ben's motorcycle, the truck.†   (source)
  • In a lake of reeds, he saw the pike hungrily hunting for its dinner; propelling themselves away from it, in fear, wiggling and sparkling, the young fish jumped in droves out of the water; the scent of strength and passion came forcefully out of the hasty eddies of the water, which the pike stirred up, impetuously hunting.†   (source)
  • Some showed courage throughout the whole of their political lives; others sailed with the wind until the decisive moment when their conscience, and events, propelled them into the center of the storm.†   (source)
  • It wasn't the meaning that propelled her; she didn't know then what it meant.†   (source)
  • (Seizes ROPER by the arm) Will-go to him, talk to him, keep him occupied— (Propelling him after JAILER) ROPER How, sir?†   (source)
  • It propels projectiles by explosion.†   (source)
  • Propelled by fear, but also by knowledge, she rose out of bed, not making a sound.†   (source)
  • Wordlessly he pulled her to her feet and propelled her down the steep ladder.†   (source)
  • I propelled myself forward and grabbed her inkle.†   (source)
  • Harry did not know where his rage was coming from, but it had propelled him to his feet too.†   (source)
  • I let my anger propel me into my greatest demand.†   (source)
  • She went behind him and propelled him across the room, out the door, and down the hall.†   (source)
  • "I mean, you have to propel yourself, but they'll keep you from drowning.†   (source)
  • ALBUS is propelled to the floor, his hands tied by the same brutal binding.†   (source)
  • Deftly he propelled him down the aisle toward the other man.†   (source)
  • "But, anyway," Jen said, with a bounce that propelled her off the couch.†   (source)
  • Sometimes it would buck, propelling whoever was holding it toward the dull, chomping blades.†   (source)
  • Haymitch and Plutarch grab my arms and propel me out of the room.†   (source)
  • I toggled it, and the zincoshine-propelled rocket blasted off with a savage roar.†   (source)
  • Now that I am safe, the adrenaline that propelled me here is fading, and the pain is getting worse.†   (source)
  • Mulch's momentum propelled him underground.†   (source)
  • What is the force that propels the two spheres in their irregular motion?†   (source)
  • "Send him away, Mo!" she said as he gently propelled her toward her room.†   (source)
  • But Polyphemus just laughed and swatted the sheep's rear end, propelling us forward.†   (source)
  • As THE DAY WENT ON, WE STARTED FAKING FIRE from AKs and rocket-propelled grenades.†   (source)
  • These three powerful motives propelled the ETO movement to develop rapidly.†   (source)
  • Propelled by desperate people to a warehouse with a sloppily painted H above the doorway.†   (source)
  • But the demonic spiritual energy that had once propelled them was gone.†   (source)
  • His prey was in panic; the unexpected could only propel him into further panic.†   (source)
  • Let's take a walk," said Jason, gently propelling her.†   (source)
  • Alec, still gripping Hodge's arm, propelled him forward.†   (source)
  • The force of the sound propelled them along at a majestic pace.†   (source)
  • Something propelled this event full force into the public imagination.†   (source)
  • Some were seated in chairs with wheels, propelled by other paper figures from behind.†   (source)
  • These tentacles propelled it now out of view, onto the front porch.†   (source)
  • Could hear their tongues pounding the stone floor, propelling them forward.†   (source)
  • Alice felt her feet propelling her backward.†   (source)
  • With one last effort, I propelled Hyperion across the field, straight to where Grover was waiting.†   (source)
  • He used the barrel to propel Welsh into the room ahead of him, then closed the door behind them.†   (source)
  • The shock of the sight was enough to propel Simon to his feet.†   (source)
  • Eric appeared in the street as though he had been running, or as though he had been propelled.†   (source)
  • The telephone in the Commissars Suite screamed, propel ling Benjamin off the couch.†   (source)
  • He was practically out of sight until she suddenly propelled him toward the blackboard headfirst.†   (source)
  • He restrained his desire to propel her forward, away from the moving trap that was closing in.†   (source)
  • It was the tentacles at its base that periodically propelled it forward at lurching intervals.†   (source)
  • Propelling herself to her feet, she drew her arm back and flung the dagger as hard as she could.†   (source)
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