All 9 Uses
compel
in
A Passage to India
(Auto-generated)
- Turton would never do this unless compelled.†
Chpt 4 *compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
- I am so awfully sorry—I was compelled to go to the Post Office.†
Chpt 6
- As he wove all these anxieties into a single rope, he suspected that his audience felt no interest, and that the City Magistrate fondled either maiden behind the cover of the harnionium, but good breeding compelled him to continue; it was nothing to him if they were bored, because he did not know what boredom is, and it was nothing to him if they were licentious, because God has created all races to be different.†
Chpt 8
- It was Adela's faith that the whole stream of events is important and interesting, and if she grew bored she blamed herself severely and compelled her lips to utter enthusiasms.†
Chpt 14
- When he fought or hunted or ran away, he would always stop for a time among hills, just like us; he would never let go of hospitality and pleasure, and if there was only a little food, he would have it arranged nicely, and if only one musical instrument, he would compel it to play a beautiful tune.†
Chpt 14compel = force; or (more rarely) convince
- "That will compel me to use force," Mr. Haq wailed.†
Chpt 16
- "They ought to be compelled to give hostages," etc. Many of the said women and children were leaving for the Hill Station in a few days, and the suggestion was made that they should be packed off at once in a special train.†
Chpt 20compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
- Educate your children, read the latest scientific periodicals, compel European doctors to respect you.†
Chpt 30compel = force; or (more rarely) convince
- He didn't want them to grow up superstitious, so he rebuked them, and they answered yes, father, for they were well brought up, but, like himself, they were impervious to argument, and after a polite pause they continued saying what their natures compelled them to say.†
Chpt 35compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
Definitions:
-
(1)
(compel) to force someone to do something
or more rarely:
to convince someone to do somethingMost typically, compel describes an external influence forcing someone to do something, but it can also describe being driven by an internal desire. - (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)