Rappel meaning

ră-pĕl'
A descent of a vertical surface, as a cliff or wall, by sliding down a belayed rope that is passed under one thigh and over the opposite shoulder or through a device that provides friction, typically while facing the surface and performing a series of short backward leaps to control the descent.
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To descend from a steep height by this method.
verb
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A descent by a mountain climber, as down a sheer face of a cliff, by means of a double rope anchored above and arranged around the climber's body so as to control the slide downward.
noun
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To make such a descent.
verb
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Descending by means of a rope, abseiling.
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verb
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(military) A drumbeat pattern for calling soldiers to gather.
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Origin of rappel

  • French recall, return, rappel from Old French recall from rapeler to recall re- re- apeler to summon appeal
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • French rappeler (“to pull through (a rope)")
    From Wiktionary
  • French. Compare repeal.
    From Wiktionary

Rappel Sentence Examples

  • Just rappel down and climb back up.

  • He closed his eyes briefly and began loosening his tight grip on the line, readying himself to rappel downward.

  • Shipton swore and began to fumble with his line to rappel again, down to the now injured and trapped form hovering below him.

  • "If I wanted to rappel down and not leave a rope at the top, how would I do it?" he asked.

  • You'd just loop your line through a set up or a fixed anchor and rappel down.

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Also Mentioned In

Words near rappel in the Dictionary