verb To push or drive something forward.
- When it had advanced from the wood, it hopped much after the fashion of a kangaroo, using its hind feet and tail to propel it, and when it stood erect, it sat upon its tail.
— , The Land That Time Forgot (1918)
- The engine propels the boat through the water at high speed.
- This tunnel assumed some measure of importance during the second world war, when it was used nightly as an air raid shelter for multiple unit electric trains which were propelled over the branch by a steam engine.
— R. C. Riley, By Rail to Kemp Town (1952)
verb To drive someone toward a particular outcome or change.
- Her debut album propelled her to overnight fame.
