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Glite Dictionary
to repel pest

to repel pest

4.1
To drive away insects and small animals that harm plants or homes
  • phrasal verb
  • /rɪˈpɛl pɛst/
translation icon : repeler plagas
  • Farmers often choose specific crops that can repel harmful pests, reducing the need for chemical pesticides.

Examples

  • Yep, most plants have chemicals that are there to repel pests and herbivores.

    Blog text (14)

  • Planting marigolds in your vegetable garden can help repel pests like aphids and beetles.

  • To protect your home from insects, use natural sprays that can effectively repel pests.

Synonyms

to repel
vsto repel pest
21 4.2

Make someone or something move back and stay away, often by using force

targets harmful insects or animals that threaten crops or homes

How Effective

to exterminate
  • NSFW
60 6.9
to repel pest
4.1
to drive away
71 3.4
to scare off
68 2.7
to shoo away
5 4.1

Surface Forms

repel pest infinitive
repelled pest past
repelled pest past participle
repelling pest present participle
repels pest third person singular

Morphology

repel + pest

The meaning 'to drive away insects or animals considered harmful' is directly derivable from combining 'repel' (to drive away) with 'pest' (a harmful insect or animal). This is a literal, compositional verb + noun collocation following normal English patterns and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand it.

Etymology

The phrase repel pests comes from a simple image: to repel is to push something away and a pest is a small harmful insect or animal. That's why it means 'to drive away' those creatures from gardens, homes, or crops.