1
as in to subdue
to put a stop to (something) by the use of force
the National Guard was called in to help quell the late-night disturbances downtown
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Recent Examples of quell
Anxiety quelled, the party starts back up, with Bambaataa spinning a record by James Brown.
—
Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2026
But the royals, with their pomp and circumstance, bring a special kind of diplomatic firepower, and the king will no doubt do his best to navigate the currents in the relationship, and quell the troubled waters.
—Holly Williams, CBS News, 25 Apr. 2026
Nor has the admission that there were performance problems done much to quell rampant speculation that the company is running short of computing resources and that Anthropic’s efforts to ration precious computing power were the real reason for the performance issues.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026
Over the past few months, the pending consolidation sparked many fears, which David Ellison tried to quell.
—Mandalit Del Barco, NPR, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for quell
Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2026
But the royals, with their pomp and circumstance, bring a special kind of diplomatic firepower, and the king will no doubt do his best to navigate the currents in the relationship, and quell the troubled waters.
—Holly Williams, CBS News, 25 Apr. 2026
Nor has the admission that there were performance problems done much to quell rampant speculation that the company is running short of computing resources and that Anthropic’s efforts to ration precious computing power were the real reason for the performance issues.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026
Over the past few months, the pending consolidation sparked many fears, which David Ellison tried to quell.
—Mandalit Del Barco, NPR, 23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for quell
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quell
Verb
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The celebration from general manager Bill Guerin was rather subdued after the Wild earned a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night at Grand Casino Arena to advance to the second round for the first time in more than a decade.—
Dane Mizutani,
Twin Cities,
2 May 2026
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Responding personnel subdued the knife-wielding man with a taser before the Metropolitan Police could arrive.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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My mother would shush him and change the subject.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 May 2026
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To the point where Reid shushed him down at times.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Fungicides, for instance, are used to suppress disease-causing pathogens like blights and leaf spots, but might also impact beneficial microbes that live in flowers.—
Miri Talabac,
Baltimore Sun,
28 Apr. 2026
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Researchers from the University of Bristol in England and the University at Buffalo in New York found that people actively trying to suppress food cravings were more likely to spend time watching indulgent food content online — yet ended up eating less of it afterward.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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First Amendment experts warn the bill could silence legitimate criticism and newsworthy reporting.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 May 2026
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The silence is no longer just silence Taken together, the absence of both signals and physical visitation leads to a more quantitative conclusion than SETI has traditionally offered.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
3 May 2026
Verb
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Even before the war began, hardship and inflation provoked nationwide protests that were brutally repressed.—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
28 Apr. 2026
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Additionally, many prominent figures of the Russian opposition are in exile as they have been repressed by the Russian government.—
Mark Temnycky,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The race there begins somberly in the museum before runners bound up one flight of stairs into a hallway that leads into the main stairwell; from there, the steps settle into continuous, shallow right turns providing a repetitive, hypnotic cadence.—
Michelle Sinclair Colman,
Curbed,
7 May 2026
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The administration has also settled three deals with developers of more nascent offshore projects, paying back lease fees to the tune of nearly $2 billion in taxpayer dollars for the projects to not be built.—
Ella Nilsen,
CNN Money,
7 May 2026
Verb
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Pirro has until Monday to appeal District of Columbia Chief Judge James Boasberg’s rulings quashing her subpoenas to the Fed.—
Matt Peterson,
CNBC,
1 May 2026
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The ride is obviously tuned for comfort, but not stunning at quashing bumps and light potholes.—
Adam Ismail,
The Drive,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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While most were silent, the few who traded muted pleasantries hushed as the homeowners of the Silver Court Trailer Park commenced their meeting.—
Max Klaver,
Miami Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
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Inside the main museum, the galleries are hushed and sunlit, the light filtered through Renzo Piano’s famous roof.—
Carrie Honaker,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Quell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quell. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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