What does expel mean?
To expel is to force someone or something out, typically through an official or decisive act rather than a gentle suggestion. The word most often appears in institutional contexts: schools expel students for serious misconduct, clubs and parliaments expel members who breach their rules, and governments expel foreign diplomats accused of spying. Beyond these formal senses, expel also describes physical processes, as when an engine expels exhaust fumes or the body expels waste. The verb carries a strong connotation of authority and finality — someone who is expelled has not merely been asked to leave but has been driven out, usually permanently and as a consequence of wrongdoing. Derived forms include the noun expulsion and the noun expellee, referring to the person forced out. Rooted in the Latin 'expellere', meaning 'to drive out', the word remains a precise, formal choice whenever removal is compulsory rather than voluntary.
verbTo force someone or something out of a place, organization, or country, especially officially and permanently; to drive out by force.
- To officially force someone to leave a school, organization, club, or legislative body, usually as a punishment.
- To force someone to leave a country (deportation or exile), often by government order.
- To physically force or drive something out of an enclosed space or container.
- To discharge or emit something from within the body or a mechanism (e.g., gases, waste, a bullet).
"The school voted to expel the student for repeated violations of the code of conduct."
"The university expelled two students for plagiarism after a formal disciplinary hearing."
"The engine expels exhaust gases through the tailpipe at high speed."
Expel comes from the Latin 'expellere' — literally to 'drive out' — the same root that gives us 'pulse', because your heart quite literally drives blood out with every beat.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of expel
Expel derives from the Latin verb 'expellere', formed from the prefix 'ex-' ('out') and 'pellere' ('to drive'). The same root 'pellere' underlies a family of English words including propel ('drive forward'), repel ('drive back'), compel ('drive together/force'), and impulse, as well as pulse itself, since each heartbeat drives blood outward. Expel entered English via Old French 'expeller' during the Middle Ages, and its noun form, expulsion, reflects the Latin past participle 'expulsus'.
Related word forms
How expel is actually used
Formal in register. When used of people being removed from institutions, it carries a strong connotation of official punishment and permanence — unlike 'remove' or 'suspend', which may be temporary or neutral. In scientific and medical contexts (expelling gas, waste, or foreign objects), the word is neutral and technical rather than punitive. Commonly followed by 'from': 'expelled from school', 'expelled from the country'.
Easily confused with expel
Expel means to physically or formally drive someone or something out, while expunge means to erase or remove something such as a record or mark.
Expel refers to forcing someone or something out of a place or group, whereas exhale refers specifically to breathing air out of the lungs.