How to Use compel in a Sentence

compel

verb

• Illness compelled him to stay in bed.
• We took steps to compel their cooperation.
• Almost without thought, visitors are compelled to take a seat the same way water bends at a meander.
  — Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 30 Sep. 2024
• But governments aren’t the only bodies that can curb or compel content moderation.
  — Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 9 Dec. 2022
• At the beginning, many Palestinians may have believed that such images could compel the world to act—to help bring an end to their suffering.
  — Yasmeen Serhan, TIME, 7 Oct. 2024
• Instead, for the uninitiated, this program might compel further exploration of the vanished star.
  — Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 28 Dec. 2022
• This opened her eyes to the stigma surrounding pet bereavement and compelled her to write Pets Are Family.
  — Hilary Tetenbaum, USA TODAY, 1 Oct. 2024
• The referral doesn't compel the Justice Department to pursue charges.
  — Susan Page, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2022
• Curiosity compels individuals to ask deeper questions and dig beneath the surface to find the root cause of a problem.
  — Benjamin Laker, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
• With the federal government yet to take control of half the country’s former mills, regulators still have time to compel some companies to do more cleanup.
  — Mark Olalde, ProPublica, 3 Dec. 2022
• In 2023, these conversations will become more widespread, and compel a greater number of powerful players to act.
  — Karl Lokko, WIRED, 19 Dec. 2022
• The accuser’s legal team intends to file a motion for sanctions to compel Brooks’ legal team to revert its latest filing to Jane Roe.
  — Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2024
• And that to remedy this, the government should create systems to compel seriously mentally ill people in the community to get treatment.
  — Ellen Barry, New York Times, 11 Dec. 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
• The Sun’s article compelled me to visit St. Ann’s for the first time.
  — Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 10 Aug. 2024
• Not until the evening, in fact, was the low prevailing mood compelled to lift.
  — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024
• Imperati filed a motion to compel him to turn over the filings.
  — Kelan Lyons, courant.com, 5 Nov. 2020

Last Updated: 29 Oct 2024