[syn: revoke, annul, lift, countermand, reverse, repeal, overturn, rescind, vacate]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Repeal \Re*peal"\ (r?-p?l"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Repealed
(-p?ld"); p. pr. & vb. n. Repealing.] [OF. repeler to call
back, F. rappeler; pref. re- re- + OF. apeler, F. appeler, to
call, L. appellare. See Appeal, and. cf. Repel.]
1. To recall; to summon again, as persons. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
The banished Bolingbroke repeals himself,
And with uplifted arms is safe arrived. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. To recall, as a deed, will, law, or statute; to revoke; to
rescind or abrogate by authority, as by act of the
legislature; as, to repeal a law.
[1913 Webster]
3. To suppress; to repel. [Obs.]
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Whence Adam soon repealed
The doubts that in his heart arose. --Milton.
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Syn: To abolish; revoke; rescind; recall; annul; abrogate;
cancel; reverse. See Abolish.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Repeal \Re*peal"\, n.
1. Recall, as from exile. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
The tribunes are no soldiers; and their people
Will be as rash in the repeal, as hasty
To expel him thence. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Revocation; abrogation; as, the repeal of a statute; the
repeal of a law or a usage.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
repeal
n 1: the act of abrogating; an official or legal cancellation
[syn: abrogation, repeal, annulment]
v 1: cancel officially; "He revoked the ban on smoking"; "lift
an embargo"; "vacate a death sentence" [syn: revoke,
annul, lift, countermand, reverse, repeal,
overturn, rescind, vacate]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
45 Moby Thesaurus words for "repeal":
abolish, abolition, abrogate, abrogation, annihilate, annul,
annulment, bring to naught, cancel, cancellation, countermand,
counterorder, disannul, dismantle, do away with, invalidate,
invalidation, lift, make void, negate, negative, nullification,
nullify, override, overrule, recall, recant, renege, rescind,
rescindment, rescission, retract, reversal, reverse, revocation,
revoke, set aside, suspend, undo, vacate, void, voiding, waive,
withdraw, write off
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
REPEAL, legislation. The abrogation or destruction of a law by a legislative
act.
2. A repeal is express; as when it is literally declared by a
subsequent law or implied, when the new law contains provisions contrary to
or irreconcilable with those of the former law.
3. A law may be repealed by implication, by an affirmative as well as
by a negative statute, if the substance is inconsistent with the old
statute. 1 Ham. 10: 2 Bibb, 96; Harper, 101; 4 W. C. C. R. 691.
4. It is a general rule that when a penal statute punishes an offence
by a certain penalty, and a new statute is passed imposing a greater or a
lesser penalty, for the same offence, the former statute is repealed by
implication. 5 Pick. 168; 3 Halst. 48; 1 Stew. 506; 3 A. K. Marsh. 70; 21
Pick. 373. See 1 Binn. 601; Bac. Ab. Statute D 7 Mass. 140.
5. By the common law when a statute repeals another, and afterwards the
repealing statute is itself repealed, the first is revived. 2 Blackf. 32. In
some states this rule has been changed, as in Ohio and Louisiana. Civ. Code
of:Louis. art. 23.
6. When a law is repealed, it leaves all the civil rights of the
parties acquired under the law unaffected. 3. L. R. 337; 4 L. R. 191; 2
South. 689; Breese, App. 29; 2 Stew. 160.
7. When a penal statute is repealed or so modified as to exempt a class
from its operation, violations committed before the repeal are also
exempted, unless specifically reserved, or unless there have been some
private right divested by it. 2 Dana, 330; 4 Yeates, 392; 1 Stew. 347; 5
Rand. 657; 1 W. C. C. R. 84; 2 Virg. Cas. 382. Vide Abrogation; 18 Vin. Ab.
118.