dispel Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings
    turn back; drive out; drive away; chase away; drive off; run off.
    • Drive away potential burglars
    • drive away bad thoughts
    • dispel doubts
    • The supermarket had to turn back many disappointed customers
  2. verb to cause to separate and go in different directions
    scatter; break up; disperse; dissipate.
    • She waved her hand and scattered the crowds

WordNet

Dis*pel" transitive verb
Etymology
L. dispellere; dis- + pellere to push, drive. See Pulse a beating.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Dispelled ; present participle & verbal noun Dispelling
Definitions
  1. To drive away by scattering, or so to cause to vanish; to clear away; to banish; to dissipate; as, to dispel a cloud, vapors, cares, doubts, illusions.
    [Satan] gently raised their fainting courage, and dispelled their fears. Milton.
    I saw myself the lambent easy light Gild the brown horror, and dispel the night. Dryden.

Webster 1913