The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Compel \Com*pel"\, v. i.
   To make one yield or submit. "If she can not entreat, I can
   compel." --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Compel \Com*pel"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compelled; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Compelling.] [L. compellere, compulsum, 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.
      [1913 Webster]

            Wolsey . . . compelled the people to pay up the
            whole subsidy at once.                --Hallam.
      [1913 Webster]

            And they compel one Simon . . . to bear his cross.
                                                  --Mark xv. 21.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To take by force or violence; to seize; to exact; to
      extort. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Commissions, which compel from each
            The sixth part of his substance.      --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
      [1913 Webster]

            Easy sleep their weary limbs compelled. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

            I compel all creatures to my will.    --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To gather or unite in a crowd or company. [A Latinism] "In
      one troop compelled." --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To call forth; to summon. [Obs.] --Chapman.
      [1913 Webster]

            She had this knight from far compelled. --Spenser.

   Syn: To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See
        Coerce.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

compel
    v 1: force somebody to do something; "We compel all students to
         fill out this form" [syn: compel, oblige, obligate]
    2: necessitate or exact; "the water shortage compels
       conservation"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

95 Moby Thesaurus words for "compel":
   actuate, animate, beat down, beset, bind, break, browbeat,
   bulldoze, bully, castrate, cause, cause to, clamp down on, coerce,
   concuss, constrain, cow, daunt, despotize, dictate, domineer,
   domineer over, drive, drive on, energize, enforce, enslave, force,
   forward, foster, galvanize, give an impetus, give momentum, goad,
   grind, grind down, grip, have, henpeck, hold, impel, incite,
   infatuate, insist upon, intimidate, keep down, keep under,
   lord it over, make, motivate, move, move to action, necessitate,
   not let go, oblige, obsess, oppress, overawe, overbear, overmaster,
   override, possess, power, preoccupy, press heavy on, promote,
   propel, put in motion, repress, restrain, ride over,
   ride roughshod over, set agoing, set going, set in motion, shotgun,
   spark, stimulate, subjugate, suppress, terrorize, thrust, tie,
   trample down, trample upon, tread down, tread upon, tyrannize,
   tyrannize over, unman, use force upon, walk all over, walk over,
   weigh heavy on, whip on



The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

COMpute ParallEL
Compel

    (Compel) The first single-assignment language.

   ["A Language Design for Concurrent Processes", L.G. Tesler et
   al, Proc SJCC 32:403-408, AFIPS (Spring 1968)].

   (1995-01-19)