Repelling can consist of defending oneself from an attack.
Repel is a verb used to name the action of resisting, expelling, dismissing or rejecting something . Its etymological root is found in the Latin repellĕre , which is composed of two clearly defined parts: the prefix re- , which means “again” or “backwards” ; and the verb pellere , which is synonymous with “to push”.
For example: “A Ukrainian soldier died while repelling an attack by Russian troops on a base in his country” , “Security forces must be trained to repel attacks without committing crimes” , “In my country, it is common to wear red bracelets to repel bad vibes” .
Repel as a defense against an attack
The idea of repelling is used when someone must defend themselves from an attack and get the attacker to retreat or stop their offensive .
Suppose that a group of protesters in a city march to protest the legislature. Upon reaching the building, they begin throwing rocks. The police in charge of protecting the building decide to advance on the protesters to repel the attack, moving them away from the legislature and arresting those who continue to throw rocks.
Repelling mosquitoes is important for maintaining your health.
The concept in technology
Within the technological field, the verb we are now dealing with is used in the same way. Thus, for example, it is common for smart mobile phones to be presented on the market with the distinctive feature that they have the ability to repel water .
One of the devices with this feature is the Samsung Galaxy S7 , which achieves this goal because it has been equipped with resources such as a plastic seal in the area of the charging ports, a protective screen for the headphones and a seal for the connector of said headphones.
Repel as refute
Repel can also mean refuting something or reacting to something that causes rejection or abhorrence .
“Have no doubt: I will always be repelled by those types of actions that are harmful to our people” and “There are certain circumstances that must be repelled” are examples of this usage.
The fight against insects
The product used to repel insects is called repellent . They are usually substances with some kind of chemical that keeps animals away and, in this way, protects the person using the repellent from possible bites: “To go to the park, you will need a repellent that keeps mosquitoes away.”
As a general rule, these repellents act against insects and especially against certain species such as mosquitoes , which cause really annoying and potentially dangerous bites due to the transmission of diseases. However, it is also interesting to know that many people resort to natural products that act as repellents such as basil, tea tree, lavender, bay leaves and cloves.
In colloquial language, the term repelente is also used with another meaning. Specifically, it is used to refer to a person who is impertinent because he wants to meddle in all matters and never stops showing that he knows everything.