QUELL • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Quell

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/kwɛl/ Listen

verb

Quell v. t.

1.

To take the life of; to kill. (Obs.) "The ducks cried as (if) men would them quelle."

2.

To overpower; to subdue; to put down. "The nation obeyed the call, rallied round the sovereign, and enabled him to quell the disaffected minority." "Northward marching to quell the sudden revolt."

3.

To quiet; to allay; to pacify; to cause to yield or cease; as, to quell grief; to quell the tumult of the soul. "Much did his words the gentle lady quell."

Synonyms: to subdue; crush; overpower; reduce; put down; repress; suppress; quiet; allay; calm; pacify.

Quell v. i. (past & past part. quelled; pres. part. quelling)

1.

To die. (Obs.) "Yet he did quake and quaver, like to quell."

2.

To be subdued or abated; to yield; to abate. (R.) "Winter's wrath begins to quell."

noun

Quell n. Murder. (Obs.)

See images of 'Quell'

Etymology of 'Quell'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Quell" Quotes from Famous Books

... his eyes, and he raised his hands, but the courage was not in him to speak. There was about Miss Todd as she stood, or as she sat, a firmness which showed itself even in her rotundity, a vigour in the very rubicundity of her cheek which was apt to quell the spirit of those who would fain have interfered with her. So Mr. O'Callaghan, having raised his eyes considerably, and having raised his hands a little, ...

— The Bertrams • Anthony Trollope

... can we bring this about? how tell what things you have been used to keep and what to give up? how keen a desire it is well to quell, and which ones? To reach this point, it is necessary to digress again in order to find the element of the magic touchstone which will tell us whether the thing we are looking at is made of gold ...

— A Jolly by Josh • "Josh"

... impartiality, for the good of the whole people, without respect to conflicting parties. Immediately on his inauguration, he had an interview with Mr. Jefferson, then Vice- President, and proposed the adoption of steps that would have a tendency to quell the spirit of faction which pervaded the country. That Mr. Jefferson, on his part, cherished a profound respect for Mr. Adams, his old co-laborer in the cause of American freedom, is evident from his letters and speeches ...

— Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams - Sixth President of the Unied States • William H. Seward

... cash on hand—which they will count. I've long admired your punctual way— Here at the break and close of day, Confronting in your chair the crowd Of business men, whose voices loud And gestures violent you quell By some mysterious, calm spell— Some magic lurking in your look That brings the noisiest to book And spreads a holy and profound Tranquillity o'er all around. So orderly all's done that they Who came to draw remain to pay. But now the time demands, at last, That you employ ...

— The Devil's Dictionary • Ambrose Bierce

... girl graduate beauties, With their bonnets and their roses, Will mar ere long the duties Which Granta wise imposes. Who, when such eyes are shining, Can quell his heart's sensations; Or turn without repining To ...

— Sagittulae, Random Verses • E. W. Bowling

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