Meanings
present singular third person exerts · participle present exerting · participle past exerted · past exerted
- transitiveTo make use of, to apply, especially of something nonmaterial; to bring to bear.
He considered exerting his influence on John to gain an advantage for himself.
3 more examples
Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLCDi Matteo clearly saw Drogba's power as a potential threat to a Barcelona defence stripped of Gerard Pique - but he barely caught sight of goal in a first 45 minutes in which the Catalans exerted their technical superiority.
2012 April 18, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona”, in BBC SportHow can the unions - or more specifically the RMT - possibly think this is a good time to exert a bit of industrial muscle and indulge in strikes both on the national railway and the London Underground?
2022 January 12, Christian Wolmar, “A new year... but the same old mistakes are being made”, in RAIL, number 948, pages 40–41
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo make use of, to apply, especially of something nonmaterial; to bring to bear.
verbTo put in vigorous action.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian упражня́вам, напря́гам
- упражня́вам (upražnjávam)to make use of
- напря́гам (naprjágam)to put in vigorous action
Chinese Mandarin 施加, 尽力
- 施加 (shījiā)to make use of
- 尽力to put in vigorous action
Danish anstrenge, udøve
- anstrengeto put in vigorous action
- udøveto put in vigorous action
Dutch uitoefenen, inspannen
- uitoefenento make use of
- inspannento put in vigorous action
Finnish käyttää, paneutua
- käyttääto make use of
- paneutuato put in vigorous action
- ponnistaato put in vigorous action
- ponnistellato put in vigorous action
French exercer
- exercerto put in vigorous action
German ausüben, anstrengen
- ausübento make use of
- anstrengento put in vigorous action
Greek μεταχειρίζομαι, ασκώ
- μεταχειρίζομαι (metacheirízomai)to make use of
- ασκώ (askó)to put in vigorous action
Italian esercitare, sforzare
- esercitareto make use of
- sforzareto put in vigorous action
Japanese 行使する
- 行使する (kōshi suru)to make use of
Māori whakawhēnanau, whakatīeke
- whakawhēnanauto put in vigorous action
- whakatīeketo put in vigorous action
- whakarīrāto put in vigorous action
Polish wytężać, wytężyć
- wytężaćto put in vigorous action
- wytężyćto put in vigorous action
Portuguese aplicar, esforçar
- aplicarto make use of
- esforçarto put in vigorous action
Romanian exercita, forța
- exercitato make use of
- forțato put in vigorous action
Spanish ejercer, esforzar
- ejercerto make use of
- esforzarto put in vigorous action
Swedish anstränga, ta i
- ansträngato put in vigorous action
- ta ito put in vigorous action
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with exert
Anagrams
Cite this entry
exert. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exert
“exert.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exert. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “exert,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exert.
Source: exert on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.