All 28 Uses

compel
in
The Pathfinder, by Cooper
(Auto-generated)

He was consequently compelled to change the course of the canoe,—at one moment shooting down with the current, with the swiftness of an arrow; and at the next checking its progress in that direction, to glance athwart the stream.†
Chpt 5

compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
The Pathfinder saw that, if he entered this rift, he should be compelled to approach a point where the Iroquois had posted themselves, for the current was irresistible, and the rocks allowed no other safe passage, while death or captivity would be the probable result of the attempt.†
Chpt 5
As the Pathfinder, in several instances, was compelled to wade in water which rose nearly to his arms, while he kept his rifle and ammunition elevated above the raging current, the toil soon fatigued him, and he was glad to stop at a large stone, or a small rock, which rose so high above the river that its upper surface was dry.†
Chpt 5
The western shore was only fifty feet distant, but the quiet, swift, dark current that glanced through the interval sufficiently showed that here he would be compelled to swim.†
Chpt 5
It will be understood that the two adventurers were compelled to swim across a deep and rapid channel before they could reach a part of the rift that admitted of wading.†
Chpt 6
So all-important to the safety of Mabel, indeed, did Jasper deem the possession or the destruction of this canoe, that he had drawn his knife, and stood ready to rip up the bark, in order to render the boat temporarily unserviceable, should anything occur to compel the Delaware and himself to abandon their prize.†
Chpt 6

compel = force; or (more rarely) convince
Our gales are sudden and severe, and we are compelled to run for our ports at all hours.†
Chpt 7 *

compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
She had lost the less refined habits and manners of one in her original position, without having quite reached a point that disqualified her for the situation in life that the accidents of birth and fortune would probably compel her to fill.†
Chpt 8

compel = force; or (more rarely) convince
The sort of neutral position occupied by her father, who was not an officer, while he was so much more than a common soldier, by keeping her aloof from the two great classes of military life, lessened the number of those whom she was compelled to know, and made the duty of decision comparatively easy.†
Chpt 10

compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
Compel the hawke to sit that is unmann'd, Or make the hound, untaught, to draw the deere, Or bring the free against his will in band, Or move the sad a pleasant tale to heere, Your time is lost, and you no whit the neere!†
Chpt 11

compel = force; or (more rarely) convince
Men drilling on it could be attacked, consequently, on two sides only; and as the cleared space beyond it, in the direction of the west and south, was large, any assailants would be compelled to quit the cover of the woods before they could make an approach sufficiently near to render them dangerous.†
Chpt 11

compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
Of all wretched sensations, Dunham, distrust, where one is compelled to confide, is the most painful.†
Chpt 13
At two he was compelled to get a second reef aft; and by half-past two he had put a balance-reef in the sail, and was lying-to.†
Chpt 15
Truth, moreover, compels us to admit another motive.†
Chpt 15

compels = forces; or (more rarely) convinces
Several hours passed away, the wind gradually getting heavier and the sea rising, until the motion of the cutter compelled Mabel and the Quartermaster to retreat also.†
Chpt 16

compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
Cap grumbled and swore; but, as there was no remedy, he was compelled to acquiesce.†
Chpt 17
The water that was driven up on the shore by the gale was necessarily compelled to find its level by returning to the lake by some secret channels.†
Chpt 17
He is major of the 55th, and may command his men to wheel and march about as he pleases; but he cannot compel me to wed the greatest or the meanest of his mess.†
Chpt 18

compel = force; or (more rarely) convince
If you think this, my friend, of your own accord and natural modesty, as it might be, my duty to you as an old fellow-campaigner compels me to say—†
Chpt 19

compels = forces; or (more rarely) convinces
She saw, however, that she could not put her companions properly on their guard without letting them into the secret of her conference with June; and she found herself compelled to act cautiously and with a forethought to which she was unaccustomed, more especially in a matter of so much moment.†
Chpt 21

compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
She changed her mode of operating, therefore, still clinging to the hope of getting the whole party within the blockhouse, without being compelled to betray the source whence she obtained her notices of the necessity of vigilance.†
Chpt 21
As the pile kindled throughout, however, the flames mounted, until they flashed so near her eyes as to compel her to retreat.†
Chpt 22

compel = force; or (more rarely) convince
Our heroine, though devoured with a feverish desire to be always at the loops, seldom went that she did not immediately quit them in disgust, though compelled by her apprehensions to return again in a few minutes, called by the rustling of leaves, or the sighing of the wind.†
Chpt 23

compelled = forced; or (more rarely) convinced
Pathfinder was compelled to own that the quick senses of Mabel had not deceived her.†
Chpt 23
The Indians were compelled to give up all their arms, even to their knives and tomahawks, as a measure of precaution, their force being still quadruple that of their foes.†
Chpt 25
It compelled Captain Sanglier to give up all his prisoners, who had been kept well guarded in the very hole or cave in which Cap and Muir had taken refuge.†
Chpt 25
I have some pups at the higher fort that I vally considerable, though they are too noisy for warfare, and so we are compelled to live separate for awhile; and then I think it would grieve me to part with Killdeer; but I see no reason why we should not be buried in the same grave, for we are as near as can be of the same length—six feet to a hair's breadth; but, bating these, and a pipe that the Sarpent gave me, and a few tokens received from travellers, all of which might be put in a pouch and laid under my head, when the order comes to march I shall be ready at a minute's warning; and, let me tell you, Master Cap, that's what I call a circumstance too.†
Chpt 27
Taking the arm of Jasper, he led him to a log, where he compelled the young man to seat himself by a sort of irresistible exercise of his iron muscles, and where he placed himself at his side.†
Chpt 28

Click For
Best Example Sentences
From Other Sources
Highlighting 2 Senses of the Word

Definitions:

(1) (compel)
to force someone to do something

or more rarely:

to convince someone to do something

Most 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)

compel in The Pathfinder, by Cooper (Auto-generated)

compel
in
The Pathfinder, by Cooper
(Auto-generated)