EXERTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does exertion mean? 

• EXERTION (noun)
  The noun EXERTION has 1 sense:

1. use of physical or mental energy; hard work

  Familiarity information: EXERTION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXERTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Use of physical or mental energy; hard work

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

effort; elbow grease; exertion; sweat; travail

Context example:

they managed only with great exertion

Hypernyms ("exertion" is a kind of...):

labor; labour; toil (productive work (especially physical work done for wages))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "exertion"):

struggle (strenuous effort)

difficulty; trouble (an effort that is inconvenient)

least effort; least resistance (the least effortful way to do something)

strain; straining (an intense or violent exertion)

exercise; exercising; physical exercise; physical exertion; workout (the activity of exerting your muscles in various ways to keep fit)

pull (a sustained effort)

application; diligence (a diligent effort)

overkill (any effort that seems to go farther than would be necessary to achieve its goal)

supererogation (an effort above and beyond the call of duty)

overexertion (excessive exertion; so much exertion that discomfort or injury results)

detrition; friction; rubbing (effort expended in moving one object over another with pressure)

Derivation:

exert (make a great effort at a mental or physical task)

 Context examples 

They swung out on the trail with remarkable lack of exertion, turned their heads uneasily, and stopped in surprise.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Surely there are some ways in which I might begin life with hardly any outlay, and yet begin with a good hope of getting on by resolution and exertion.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It did not require much exertion to pick these quarrels.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He lashed the horses unmercifully with his long whip, and with wild cries of encouragement urged them on to further exertions.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He was still breathing heavily from the exertion he had made.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It's no exertion to me, but you don't look equal to it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

One moment surely might be spared; and, so desperate should be the exertion of her strength, that, unless secured by supernatural means, the lid in one moment should be thrown back.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Time did something, her own exertions something more, and she resumed her attentions to Susan, and again awakened the same interest in them.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

In speaking of the Harvilles, he seemed unable to satisfy his own sense of their kindness, especially of Mrs Harville's exertions as a nurse.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

In figure he was spare, but very strongly built—indeed, he had often proved that there were few men in England capable of such sustained exertions.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)