Compel, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compelled; p. pr. & vb. n Compelling.]
Etymology: [L. compellere, compilstum, to drive together, to compel, urge; com- + pellere to drive: cf. OF. compellir. See Pulse.]
1. To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to force; to constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical or moral force. Wolsey . . . compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once. Hallam. And they compel one Simon . . . to bear his cross. Mark xv. 21.
2. To take by force or violence; to seize; to exact; to extort. [R.] Commissions, which compel from each The sixth part of his substance. Shak.
3. To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate. Easy sleep their weary limbs compelled. Dryden. I compel all creatures to my will. Tennyson.
4. To gather or unite in a crowd or company. [A Latinism] "In one troop compelled." Dryden.
2 more senses
5. To call forth; to summon. [Obs.] Chapman. She had this knight from far compelled. Spenser.
Syn. -- To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See Coerce.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Compel, v. i.
To make one yield or submit. "If she can not entreat, I can not compel." Shak.
Shades of meaning
To compel one to an act is to secure its performance by the use of irresistible physical or moral force. Force implies primarily an actual physical process, absolutely subduing all resistance. Coerce implies the actual or potential use of so much force as may be necessary to secure the surrender of the will; the American secessionists contended that the Federal government had no right to coerce a State. Constrain implies the yielding of judgment and will, and in some cases of inclination or affection, to an overmastering power; as, "the love of Christ constraineth us," 2 Cor. v, 14. Compare drive; influence.
Prepositions
The soldiers were compelled to desertion: preferably with the infinitive, compelled to desert.