appall

• appal (occasionally in Commonwealth English)

Old French apalir (“to grow pale, make pale”); a (Latin ad) + palir (“to grow pale, to make pale”), pâle (“pale”). See pale (adj.) and compare with pall.

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈpɔl/

appall (third-person singular simple present appalls, present participle appalling, simple past and past participle appalled)

1. (transitive) To fill with horror; to dismay.

   The evidence put forth at the court appalled most of the jury.

   • Edward Hyde Claredon

     The house of peers was somewhat appalled at this alarum.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To make pale; to blanch.
   • Wyatt

     The answer that ye made to me, my dear, […] / Hath so appalled my countenance.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To weaken; to reduce in strength
   • Holland

     Wine, of its own nature, will not congeal and freeze, only it will lose the strength, and become appalled in extremity of cold.

4. (intransitive, obsolete) To grow faint; to become weak; to become dismayed or discouraged.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Gower to this entry?)

5. (intransitive, obsolete) To lose flavour or become stale.

• dismay, terrify, daunt, frighten, affright, scare, depress
• See also Thesaurus:frighten

• palpal