Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRO-PEL', v.t. [L. propello; pro, forward, and pello, to drive.]

To drive forward; to urge or press onward by force. The wind or steam propels ships; balls are propelled by the force of gunpowder; mill wheels are propelled by water or steam; the blood is propelled through the arteries and veins by the action of the heart. [This word is commonly applied to material bodies.]