exerts
- 1Third-person singular simple present of exert.
The dam exerts enormous pressure on the surrounding rock walls.
A skilled negotiator exerts subtle pressure without ever raising her voice.
Note
A verb that always needs something to act on. Usually that is a non-material force brought to bear: a dam exerts pressure, a leader exerts influence. Otherwise the subject turns the action on itself, and the reflexive pronoun must match the singular subject: she exerts herself, it exerts itself. That reflexive use means putting oneself into vigorous action, as in effort rather than force applied to something else.
He rarely exerts himself before noon.
The coach exerts herself as hard as any player on the field.
exerts is a form of exert
exert, verb: To make use of or bring to bear something, especially a non-material power such as influence, authority, or pressure. Full entry
- Spelling
- exert → exerts: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /s/.
Use it in a sentence
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