appall

== English == === Alternative forms === appal (Commonwealth English) === Etymology === From Middle English apallen, from Old French apalir (“to grow pale, make pale”); a (Latin ad) + palir (“to grow pale, to make pale”), pâle (“pale”), from pallere. See pale (adj.) and compare with pall. === Pronunciation === enPR: ə-pôlʹ, IPA(key): /əˈpɔːl/ Rhymes: -ɔːl === Verb === appall (third-person singular simple present appalls, present participle appalling, simple past and past participle appalled) (transitive) To fill with horror or indignation; to dismay. Synonyms: terrify, daunt, frighten, scare, depress, (archaic) affright; see also Thesaurus:frighten (transitive, obsolete) To make pale; to blanch. (transitive, obsolete) To weaken; to reduce in strength (intransitive, obsolete) To grow faint; to become weak; to become dismayed or discouraged. (intransitive, obsolete) To lose flavor or to become stale. ==== Usage notes ==== Most British dictionaries consider appal the sole standard UK spelling (although, as with other words ending in a single vowel followed by an l, the l is always doubled for derivatives such as appalling). ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === “appall”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. === Anagrams === palpal