Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COM-PEL', v.t. [L. compello, compellere; con and pello, to drive; Sp. compeler; Port. compellir. See Peal and Appeal.]

1. To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force; as, circumstances compel us to practice economy. Thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant. – Levit. xxv. And they compel one Simon … to bear his cross. – Mark xv. Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. – Luke xiv.
2. To force; to take by force, or violence; to seize. The subjects' grief Comes through commissions, which compel from each / A sixth part of his substance. – Shak. [This sense is harsh, and not very common.] – Johnson.
3. To drive together; to gather; to unite in a crowd or company. A Latinism, compellere gregem. In one troop compelled. – Dryden.
4. To seize; to overpower; to hold. And easy sleep their weary limbs compelled. – Dryden. [Unusual.]
5. To call forth, L. compellere. [Obs.] – Spenser.