Other forms: propelled, propelling, propels
To propel is to drive something forward with force. Propel a boat, propelled by the current, propelled into the job.
It is more formal than push and always about forward motion — nothing is propelled sideways. The figurative sense is common: propelled to fame, propelled into a role, where the person had little say in it. The family is worth having: a propeller drives an aircraft or ship, propulsion is the general noun, and a propelling pencil is one where the lead is pushed forward, which is British for what Americans call a mechanical pencil.
1verbpropelTo drive something forward.
“The boat is propelled by a single small engine.”
2verbpushTo push somebody into a situation.
“One interview propelled her into the job.”
propel is a way of driving forward.
Also accepted in games: push
Latin propellere is pro-, forward, plus pellere, to drive — the same verb behind expel, repel and compel. English has the whole set, each with a different prefix and the same driving inside it.
Proto-Indo-European
*per-
Latin
propellō
Middle English
propellen — drive out, expel
English, today
propel
Built from
From Middle English propellen (“drive out, expel”), from Latin propellō, from pro- (“forward”) and pellō (“to push, to move”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA