Examples of repulse in a Sentence

Verb The troops repulsed the attack. I was repulsed by the movie's violence. The moldy bread repulsed him. He repulsed all attempts to help him. Noun the waiter's incredibly rude repulse of our polite request for a better table—one that wasn't right next to the kitchen—prompted us to walk out

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb With the conflict turning into a war of attrition, only continuing foreign support could allow Ukraine to survive and repulse its much bigger and better-armed neighbor, Ukrainian officials say. — Yaroslav Trofimov, WSJ, 12 May 2022 Protein-digesting enzymes also helped to repulse attackers. — Stephanie Pain, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Mar. 2022 But the thought of scoring cash for munching on crunchy insect wings didn't repulse her enough to nix it from the realm of possibility altogether. — Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 25 Jan. 2022 The pandemic in 2020 has held a mirror to Christianity, just as the epidemics of antiquity did, but today’s reflection carries the potential to repulse rather than attract. — Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 20 Dec. 2020 Michael Bloomberg, then mayor of the Big Apple, commissioned McKinsey to study how his city could repulse the attack in 2007. — The Economist, 24 Oct. 2020 For example, the odor of a strong-smelling food could remind one sniffer of family and home—and repulse another who has never encountered it. — Popular Science, 18 Sep. 2020 We are completely repulsed by the actions of these individuals and offer our support of those who were subject to or in any way impacted by it. — Tanya A. Christian, Essence, 27 Apr. 2020 In 1916, during World War I, the 10-month Battle of Verdun ended with French troops succeeding in repulsing a major German offensive. — BostonGlobe.com, 19 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Stories about chemical and biological weapons are often oversold, for the same reason stories of cannibalistic serial killers are: Peculiar forms of murder repulse and excite us, and old-fashioned forms do not. — Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2021 Yet Mr Trump’s decision to change course represents neither a disastrous retreat nor a major moral repulse. — The Economist, 23 June 2018 After another great inwash of Hispanics, peaking during the late 1990s at around 750,000 arrivals a year, a repulse was inevitable. — The Economist, 18 Jan. 2018 Fog stalled airborne reinforcements to British forces at Arnhem in 1944, contributing to the German repulse of a major Allied initiative. — Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 18 Oct. 2017 Valerian wheezes to a close and then gives us a sloppy, oafish grin, one that, much like an ugly dog, both endears and repulses. — Jillian Selzer, Cosmopolitan, 24 July 2017 Valerian wheezes to a close and then gives us a sloppy, oafish grin, one that, much like an ugly dog, both endears and repulses. — Jillian Selzer, Cosmopolitan, 24 July 2017 Valerian wheezes to a close and then gives us a sloppy, oafish grin, one that, much like an ugly dog, both endears and repulses. — Richard Lawson, HWD, 18 July 2017 Valerian wheezes to a close and then gives us a sloppy, oafish grin, one that, much like an ugly dog, both endears and repulses. — Richard Lawson, vanityfair.com, 18 July 2017 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'repulse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for repulse

Verb

Middle English repulsen "to hold back, drive away," probably in part borrowed from Latin repulsus, past participle of repellere "to push away, drive back, fend off," in part borrowed from Middle French repulser "to drive back, put an end to," borrowed from Latin repulsāre "to drive back, repudiate," frequentative of repellere — more at repel

Noun

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, "action of pushing back, rejection," borrowed in part from Latin repulsa "electoral defeat, check, rebuff" (noun derivative from feminine of repulsus, past participle of repellere "to push away, drive back, fend off"), in part from repulsus "action of forcing back," verbal noun from repellere — more at repel

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