1494 in Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1839) I. 328/1 Þe wrangwis repelling & outputting of þaim & þar seruitouris & gudis out of þar landis of furdfelde.

1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. ii. xiv. 183 Valerius left þe said auctorite for [þe] Indignacioun þat he tuke in his mynde for þe repelling of his petitiouns.

1579 E. Hake Newes out of Powles Churchyarde newly Renued sig. Hiii The repelling of those bytter temptations and assaults of the common enemies of man kinde.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Repoulsement, a repulsing, repelling.

1651 T. Hobbes Philos. Rudim. vi. §17. 103 To the repelling of a forraign enemy, they appoint a certain and limited return.

1696 J. Lead Fountain of Gardens 121 Oh Love so strongly thou dost move and work, that no Repellings taken notice of are.

1719 J. Quincy Lexicon Physico-medicum (1722) 381/1 By repelling is meant those Means which prevent such an Afflux of Fluid to any particular part, as would raise it into a Tumour.

1794 T. Holcroft Adventures Hugh Trevor III. xii. 242 The flushings of Olivia's face indeed were continual; but what were they more than indignant repellings of her aunt's broad surmises?

1835 W. Greener Gun xxx. 226 I consider it to be the first duty of every government to provide the best arms possible, for the defence of liberty and the repelling of aggression.

1868 H. W. Beecher Serm. (1869) I. viii. 164 These were accepted in gentleness, in quietness, without repelling, without protest.

1928 Times 30 June 11/1 The Prince seemed to be particularly interested by the episode which depicts the repelling of a Viking invasion.

1973 Folklore 84 139 Rites at springtime, harvest-time, and mid-winter..had as their purpose the repelling of fairies and witches.

2005 M. Zuehlke Juno Beach v. 80 These divisions were deemed incapable of repelling a determined invasion force.

1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. ix. ii. f. 44^v/2 He is called the expulsive, or repellinge ligature [Du. expulsive of wt drijvende Banden, Fr. bandage..explosif].

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Repercussif, repercussiue, repelling.

1655 Duchess of Newcastle Philos. & Physical Opinions clxxxviii. 143 If the repelling motions be stronger then the expelling motion, the malignant presses so hard upon the vital parts, as it smothers the life therein.

1710 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum II. (at cited word) In Mechanicks, where Attraction ceases to exert it self, a kind of repelling Force should succeed.

1779 J. Moore View Society & Manners France II. xcvi. 436 There are, however, so many repelling points in the American and French characters, that I cannot imagine the adhesion between them could be of long duration.

1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) 296 When the two repelling poles are brought into contact.

1882 Cent. Mag. July 454/2 He found no occasion to resort to inveterate exclusiveness or repelling harshness.

1937 N. M. Gunn Highland River vii. 106 In the distance [there was] always a bleakness that was unadventurous and repelling.

1962 Condor 64 297 This behavior..has a very powerful attracting rather than repelling effect on drakes when the female is away from the nest.

2006 J. Drobnick Smell Culture Reader v. 257 The subconscious enchantment of pheromones..attests to the significance of smell in sexuality, either as an irresistibly persuasive or repelling force.

1811 L.-M. Hawkins Countess & Gertrude II. xlviii. 75 ‘I don't want you,’ said she repellingly, as she shut the door between them.

1863 W. Thornbury True as Steel III. 230 The eyes no longer stared repellingly with a fixed and hard glance.

1970 Child Devel. 31 499 Small discrepancies may be attractively pleasant, large ones repellingly unpleasant.

2003 J. Birtchnell Two of Me vi. 85 In anorexia, the fear of putting on weight is so extreme that the woman defeats her original objective and becomes repellingly thin.

1834 Metropolitan Mag. 11 214 This only heightened the physiognomical repellingness of the ghastly, ghostly contrasting view.

1961 B. Blanshard Reason & Goodness v. 108 Things that cause pain are..repellent to us; this repellingness we assign to the thing and call it bad.