EXERT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does exert mean? 

• EXERT (verb)
  The verb EXERT has 3 senses:

1. put to use

2. have and exercise

3. make a great effort at a mental or physical task

  Familiarity information: EXERT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXERT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they exert    ... he / she / it exerts   
Past simple: exerted   
Past participle: exerted   
-ing form: exerting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put to use

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

exercise; exert

Context example:

exert one's power or influence

Hypernyms (to "exert" is one way to...):

apply; employ; use; utilise; utilize (put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Have and exercise

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

exert; maintain; wield

Context example:

wield power and authority

Hypernyms (to "exert" is one way to...):

have; have got; hold (have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make a great effort at a mental or physical task

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

exert oneself

Hypernyms (to "exert" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "exert"):

overexert (exert (oneself) excessively and go beyond one's strength)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

exertion (use of physical or mental energy; hard work)

 Context examples 

This xanthine most likely exerts its effect by inhibiting cAMP or cGMP phosphodiesterases, thereby increasing levels of the second messenger cAMP or cGMP intracellularly.

(Aminophylline, NCI Thesaurus)

She said she had tried to exert herself, and so, I have no doubt, she had.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It seemed he would fly to pieces, so terrible was the control he was exerting, holding together by an unwonted indecision the counter- forces that struggled within him for mastery.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The first day she was very obedient and industrious, and exerted herself to please Mother Holle, for she thought of the gold she should get in return.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

An agent that exerts an effect on metabolism or any anatomic entity that is part of the gastrointestinal tract.

(Agent Affecting Digestive System or Metabolism, NCI Thesaurus)

Although the precise mechanism by which altretamine exerts its cytotoxic effect is unknown, N-demethylation of altretamine may produce reactive intermediates which covalently bind to DNA, resulting in DNA damage.

(Altretamine, NCI Thesaurus)

But because these earlier studies tended to analyze relatively small numbers of people, each individual study was too limited to detect common genetic variations that might exert subtle effects on disease risk.

(Over 100 Genetic Sites Tied to Schizophrenia, NIH)

Although the exact mechanism of the depigmenting effects of mequinol remains unclear, it may exert its effect by oxidation of tyrosinase to cytotoxic products in melanocytes.

(Mequinol, NCI Thesaurus)

I shall leave the place probably in the course of a twelve-month; but while I do stay, I will exert myself to the utmost for its improvement.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Metformin may exert antineoplastic effects through AMPK-mediated or AMPK-independent inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which is up-regulated in many cancer tissues.

(Metformin hydrochloride, NCI Thesaurus)