How to Use rappel in a Sentence

rappel

verb
  • This serves as a great backup for climbers and those who rappel.
    — Craig Caudill, Field & Stream, 12 July 2023
  • Rescue teams were able to rappel into the lave tube and bring the man back up.
    — Chris Boyette, CNN, 6 Nov. 2019
  • Photos show protests rappelling off the bridge, as cars slowly drive bay.
    — Michelle Iracheta, Houston Chronicle, 12 Sep. 2019
  • Rangers rappelled down the cliff and confirmed the man had died, the release says.
    — Allan Brettman, OregonLive.com, 5 July 2017
  • Alas, Santos was afraid of heights and didn’t want to rappel down and grab it.
    — Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 1 May 2022
  • Emerald, with few options left, rappelled down to earth.
    — Robert Moor, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Crews found the man on the east side bank of the river and used ropes to rappel down and rescue him.
    — Robin Goist, cleveland, 18 Oct. 2019
  • Search and rescue was called in to help rappel the women from the narrow ledges.
    — Alan Gionet, CBS News, 18 June 2026
  • The winds were still heavy when a member of the helicopter crew rappelled down to find her.
    — Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2023
  • On the third day, the women began rappelling down the buttress.
    — Owen Clarke, Outside Online, 9 Oct. 2024
  • Fire crews arrived and used harnesses to rappel down the face of the sheer cliff and reach the man.
    — Fox News, 30 Dec. 2020
  • To reach the bottom, the two had to stop at each drop-off, affix safety ropes, and then rappel down a cliff.
    — Frederick Dreier, Outside, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Under the cover of smoke, break the nearest window, and rappel down to the street.
    — Robert Cocuzzo, Town & Country, 25 Apr. 2016
  • First responders used ropes to rappel down to get to the victims, Jones said.
    — Paul P. Murphy, CNN, 28 Jan. 2022
  • The crowd below cheered as Banks reached the top, let go, and gracefully rappelled down.
    — Pat Nabong, Chicago Reader, 11 June 2018
  • In grandiose fashion, Hegeth rappels from the roof into the station.
    — Jack Dunn, Variety, 27 Nov. 2025
  • Soldiers rappelled from the helicopters to the upper deck and trained their rifles on us.
    — Emily Wilder, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
  • One young man had rappelled two hundred feet, down a hole in the ceiling of the gallery on the other side of the crystal cave.
    — Amie Barrodale, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
  • Rock climbing, scrambling, and rappelling over a long summit day is required to tag the top of this classic.
    — Sean McNally, Outdoor Life, 13 Mar. 2025
  • Video taken at the scene showed helicopters flying low, with troops rappelling onto the roof.
    — Julie Sharp, CBS News, 4 June 2026
  • Williams fled the apartment, evading the officer by rappelling out of a window.
    — Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025
  • Firefighters rescued some people by rope, rappelling down the side of the building.
    — Sarah Maslin Nir, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2024
  • The group had camped overnight and started their day off early to rappel down a 227-foot drop into the cave.
    — Jason Duaine Hahn, PEOPLE.com, 25 Nov. 2019
  • After locking in on the dog’s location, a rescuer was able to rappel down and retrieve the dog.
    — Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2024
  • Organizers then sent drone pilots or rappelling experts to the cliffs and divers to the water.
    — Audrey McAvoy, The Denver Post, 30 June 2019
  • Rescuers rappelled down from the aircraft, put harnesses on the boy and his father and hoisted them up.
    — Nicole Brown Chau, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2025
  • Rescuers used a helicopter to land on the side of the Golden Ray and rappelled down the hull.
    — Time, 9 Sep. 2019
  • Finally, climbers must rappel from the tree toward a specific target on the ground.
    — Calin Van Paris, Outside, 19 Mar. 2026
  • Crews were able to rappel over 100 feet down and locate the hiker, who had succumbed to their injuries.
    — Stephen Smith, CBS News, 25 Sep. 2023
  • Instead of rappelling down a ravine, an Army captain pulled a dead soldier out of a burning Humvee.
    — Author: Matt Viser, Greg Jaffe, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Aug. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rappel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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