rappel

verb

rap·​pel rə-ˈpel 

ra-

rappelled also rappeled; rappelling also rappeling

intransitive verb

: to descend (as from a cliff) by sliding down a rope passed under one thigh, across the body, and over the opposite shoulder or through a special friction device

rappel noun

Examples of rappel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Harrison Fire Department members rappelled 260 feet down the bluff while park rangers made their way to the scene from the river. —Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2025

First responders from Ouray County EMS, Ouray Volunteer Fire Department and Ouray Mountain Rescue Team rigged a rope system to rappel down to the sole occupant of the vehicle. —Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025

Bovino portrays himself as taking a hands-on approach to enforcement, including by participating in a raid on a Chicago South Side apartment building where agents rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters. —Michael Loria, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025

Yet there has been an asymmetry between the Sturm und Drang of that operation—a midnight raid featured agents rappelling from helicopters onto a South Side apartment building—and its effect. —Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 5 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, recall, from Old French rapel, from rapeler to recall, from re- + apeler to appeal, call — more at appeal

First Known Use

1944, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for rappel

• appal
• apple
• chapel
• dapple
• grapple
• pineapple

Kids Definition

rappel

verb

rap·​pel rə-ˈpel 

ra-

rappelled also rappeled; rappelling also rappeling

: to descend (as from a cliff) by sliding down a rope