expelled; expelling
1
: to force out : eject
expelled the smoke from her lungs
2
: to force to leave (a place, an organization, etc.) by official action : take away rights or privileges of membership
was expelled from college
Did you know?
To expel is to drive out, and its usual noun is expulsion. Expel is similar to eject, but expel suggests pushing out while eject suggests throwing out. Also, ejecting may only be temporary: the player ejected from a game may be back tomorrow, but the student expelled from school is probably out forever.
Examples of expel in a Sentence
The club may expel members who do not follow the rules.
She was expelled from school for bad behavior.
expel air from the lungs
Recent Examples on the Web
His family are from Bhutan, a tiny Buddhist kingdom on the eastern edge of the Himalayas, from where they were expelled in the 1990s because of a conflict over ethnicity and politics, sparked by resurgent Bhutanese nationalists.
—
Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 5 Apr. 2025
But two days after Trump retook the White House this year on promises of tightening America’s borders and expelling violent criminals, Parris found himself at a red light in his Arizona neighborhood, surrounded by unmarked SUVs.
—Celina Tebor, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2025
At that time, the Israeli defense minister threatened to annex parts of Gaza and expel its population if Hamas did not release the Israeli hostages.
—Khalil Shikaki, Time, 2 Apr. 2025
Kleiman also found evidence to believe that some members of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel were not all expelled to Mesopotamia in the 7th century B.C. and actually may have stayed in Megiddo.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for expel
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Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 5 Apr. 2025
But two days after Trump retook the White House this year on promises of tightening America’s borders and expelling violent criminals, Parris found himself at a red light in his Arizona neighborhood, surrounded by unmarked SUVs.
—Celina Tebor, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2025
At that time, the Israeli defense minister threatened to annex parts of Gaza and expel its population if Hamas did not release the Israeli hostages.
—Khalil Shikaki, Time, 2 Apr. 2025
Kleiman also found evidence to believe that some members of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel were not all expelled to Mesopotamia in the 7th century B.C. and actually may have stayed in Megiddo.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for expel
Cite this Entry
“Expel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expel. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
expel
verb
ex·pel
ik-ˈspel 
expelled; expelling
1
: to drive or force out
expel air from the lungs
2
: to force to leave usually by official action
expelled from school
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