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Definition of "quell" []

  • To put down forcibly; suppress: Police quelled the riot. (verb-transitive)
  • To pacify; quiet: finally quelled the children's fears. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "quell" in a sentence
  • "Errahman, and Vizier and Sultan amuse themselves by undertaking plundering expeditions against insurrectionary tribes, whose sedition they first stimulate, and then quell, that is to say, by receiving from the unlucky rebels a handsome gratification."
  • "November, Sony Music issued a track called quell rumours that some of Jackson's vocals on the album were "fake"."
  • "I think actually he reached out very aggressively basically to the right during the campaign, kind of quell these fears that he was soft on Israel."