verb (propels, propelling, propelled) with object

drive, push, or cause to move in a particular direction, typically forward:

…を推進する, 進ませる.

e.g. the boat is propelled by using a very long paddle

e.g. as adjective in combination (-propelled) : a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

spur or drive into a particular situation:

〈物･事などが〉〈人〉を «…に» 駆り立てる(drive) «to, into»

e.g. fear propelled her out of her stillness.

late Middle English (in the sense ‘expel, drive out’): from Latin propellere, from pro- ‘forward’ + pellere ‘to drive’.