How to Use compel in a Sentence

compel

verb

• Illness compelled him to stay in bed.
• We took steps to compel their cooperation.
• Today’s full moon in headstrong Taurus and your intense eighth house can compel you to make a choice.
  — The Astrotwins, ELLE, 8 Nov. 2022
• The Texas Supreme Court declined to compel the state to do so in May of this year.
  — Jason Ma, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2024
• One is that attention is really the thing our babies need from us, and the changes in our brains really compel us to give them our attention.
  — Elissa Strauss, CNN, 17 Oct. 2022
• That is an extremely short amount of time if the committee intends to go through a legal battle to compel Trump to appear.
  — Tyler Olson, Fox News, 14 Oct. 2022
• The investigation found that Carr was jailing people in an effort to compel them to pay fines to make more money for the court.
  — Cory Shaffer, cleveland, 18 Oct. 2022
• Shock collars can compel grazing cattle to create firebreaks in the scrublands of the American West.
  — Sasha Frere-Jones, Harper’s Magazine , 8 Nov. 2022
• What compels a conservationist to act responsibly may not compel the public.
  — Himangi Kanodia, Quartz, 25 Oct. 2022
• In response, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to compel him to testify.
  — Sadie Gurman, WSJ, 3 Nov. 2022
• Iran’s view that a nuclear weapon is necessary for its long-term deterrence also helps to explain why sanctions fail to compel meaningful changes in its behavior.
  — Jonathan Panikoff, Time, 4 Nov. 2022
• Graham was in the first group of people close to Trump whose testimony Willis sought to compel in a batch of petitions filed with the court in early July.
  — Meg Kinnard, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Oct. 2022
• The United States has no power to compel other countries to follow suit, of course, but it is hoped that establishing such a practice could lead to norms of behavior.
  — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 25 Oct. 2022
• But there is no Supreme Court precedent that says whether Congress has the power to compel former presidents to testify against their will about their actions in office.
  — Alan Feuer, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2022
• Meanwhile, the inmate’s lawyers have asked a state appeals court to compel the inmate’s warden to refer his case for review to the district attorney to initiate a competency hearing.
  — Dakin Andone, CNN, 20 Oct. 2022
• Everyone knew the words and felt compelled to join in on the fun.
  — Ben Crandell, sun-sentinel.com, 16 Nov. 2019
• For a large part of my life, I felt compelled to pick at my zits.
  — Emily Gaudette, SELF, 15 Apr. 2019
• That compelled her to throw her hat into the ring against Knight.
  — Jeffrey Mervis, Science | AAAS, 15 June 2018
• Grief over her death compelled me to leave my longtime home on the N.C. coast.
  — Liz Biro, Indianapolis Star, 7 Apr. 2020
• For the non-car people, they will be compelled by the back story.
  — Charles Fleming, latimes.com, 27 Apr. 2018
• More recently, the Jets felt compelled to jump three slots to snag the No.
  — Dan Bickley, azcentral, 22 Mar. 2018
• That said… The main concern is that the new kids on the block seem compelled to record and share their antics.
  — The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Aug. 2023
• The older players see it and have to be compelled to stay on top of their games.
  — Susan Miller Degnan, miamiherald, 5 Nov. 2017
• When the elite fail to lead, grassroots movements must compel them to do so.
  — Paul Laudicina, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2022
• So there was a bit of a blank space in my knowledge of Thai food, and I was compelled to learn more about it.
  — Jessica Carbone, Saveur, 18 Apr. 2024
• Like, what compels a man to turn his headwear away from his face?
  — Candace Buckner, Washington Post, 20 June 2024
• Does the government have the right to compel people to share?
  — Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 4 Sep. 2024
• But with a tip section still on the receipt, Mr. Ellsworth felt compelled to tip.
  — Ali Martin, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Sep. 2023
• But there has to be a present-day urgency compelling the return to the past.
  — Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
• Still, the journalist, propelled by the values that drew her to her profession, is compelled to try.
  — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Oct. 2024

Last Updated: 22 Nov 2024