desist
verb (used without object)
to cease, as from some action or proceeding; stop.
have desisted
-
present perfectof desist.present perfect
Used to describe actions that started in the past and continue into or have direct relevance to the present.
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.
I should have desisted, I should not have seen what I saw.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
And had his life been spared to the usual span, it is not likely that he would have desisted, but ripened with years into perhaps the most profound and scholarly statesman the world has seen.
From From Canal Boy to President Or the Boyhood and Manhood of James A. Garfield by Alger, Horatio
And if Amadour had had more love and less fear he would not have desisted from his attempt for so little.
From The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. II. (of V.) by Saintsbury, George
I traced her hither, and should not have desisted from my search if I had not been checked by the plague, which attacked me on the night of my arrival.
From Old Saint Paul's A Tale of the Plague and the Fire by Ainsworth, William Harrison
He ought to have desisted from his project.
From The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 1 of 2. From 1620-1816 by Ryerson, Egerton
