exert
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to put forth or into use, as power; exercise, as ability or influence; put into vigorous action.
to exert every effort.
-
to put (oneself ) into strenuous, vigorous action or effort.
verb
-
to use (influence, authority, etc) forcefully or effectively
-
to apply (oneself) diligently; make a strenuous effort
Other Word Forms
- exertion noun
- exertive adjective
- nonexertive adjective
- superexert verb (used with object)
- unexerted adjective
- well-exerted adjective
Etymology
Origin of exert
First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin ex(s)ertus, past participle of exserere “to thrust out,” from ex- ex- 1 + serere “to connect, join together”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rather, Feroli expects that a smaller Fed balance sheet could exert moderate upward pressure on longer-term interest rates.
From Barron's
When I got Bingo, these facts were framed to me as a kind of conspiracy—corporations exerting influence on vets, inducing them to sell ultraprocessed food to pet parents.
Both books show how enslaved people exerted pressure against slaveholders, militias and the political leaders who sought to perpetuate systems of forced labor.
In a study published in Immunity, the team showed that TL1A exerts much of its influence through a group of immune cells in the gut called ILC3s.
From Science Daily
Okinawa voters exert popular pressure over a U.S. military presence but the unquestioned authority over defense and strategic decisions still resides with Tokyo.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
