Something comes toward you, and it leaves the way it came. An attacking line pushes at your gate and is thrown back. A hand reaches out to you and you push it away. A smell hits you and your whole body leans back. One motion, three situations: whatever arrives does not get in.
Wiktionary records repulse as Middle English repulsen, a learned borrowing from Latin repulsus, from repello - the same Latin verb behind repel. The single idea of driving something back runs through both words.
Wiktionary 記載 repulse 來自中古英語 repulsen，是從拉丁文 repulsus 借來的，而 repulsus 出自動詞 repellō——也就是 repel 的同一個源頭。兩個字共用「把東西趕回去」這條線，所以今天的攻防、拒絕、噁心三種用法才會落在同一個畫面上。
Wiktionary (kaikki extract, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1114035630:15341), repulse verb etymology 1
Three branches
把攻上來的擋回去
這一家最貼近那個推回去的畫面：有人衝上來，被擋在外面，而且真的沒有進來。
verb · C1
To fight people who are attacking you and push them back successfully, so that their attack fails. It is a written, formal word, used about armies, defenders of a place, and anything holding off a wave of attackers.
擊退
把伸過來的手推開
一樣是推回去，只是這次過來的不是攻勢，而是善意：一份幫忙、一句邀請、一份感情。
verb · C2
To refuse someone's offer of friendship, help, or love in a cold or rude way, so that the person is left feeling pushed away.
冷淡回絕
反過來把你推開的噁心感
這一家把方向轉了過來：推的不是你，是那樣東西在推你，你整個人往後退一步。
verb · C1
If something or someone repulses you, they make you feel such strong disgust that you want to move away from them. It is used about smells, sights, food, and the way a person behaves.
令人反感／噁心