protest

Formsprotests, protesting, protested

Pluralprotests

1. 1
   verbintransitive

   To express strong disagreement or objection.

   The residents protested against the new highway plan.

   I protest: this whole decision is completely unfair.

   Similarobject, complain

   Oppositeagree, consent

   Note

   The intransitive verb reaches its target through a preposition: people protest against a law, or protest over a planned change. G. A. Birmingham, writing in Gossamer (1915), would not "go out of my way to protest against" democracy. It can also stand alone as an exclamation, as in How dare you, I protest! There it carries indignation rather than a stated grievance.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A public demonstration in which a group gathers to express collective disapproval.

   The protest drew demonstrators from across the region.

   After weeks of protest, the company reversed its decision.

   Similardemonstration, rally

   Note

   The noun works two ways. A protest is a single event, held in front of City Hall. Protest without an article is the activity at large. The Economist in 2013 wrote of "an explosion of protest across China", meaning many demonstrations taken together as one tide. The mass use suits writing about movements, and the countable one suits a particular rally.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A formal objection, especially one lodged by a group against a decision.

   The losing party lodged an official protest with the league.

   Several nations registered a joint protest over the new tariffs.

   Similarobjection, complaint, challenge

   Note

   The procedural noun goes through official channels. A protest in this sense is lodged, usually with someone who has the authority to act on it: they lodged a protest with the authorities. For crowds and placards, English uses the demonstration sense. The verb tells the two apart: you lodge this kind of protest, and you hold the other.

4. 4
   verbCanadaUStransitive

   To publicly demonstrate in opposition to something.

   Demonstrators protested the factory closure for three straight days.

   Crowds gathered downtown to protest the court's ruling.

   Note

   A North American construction puts the thing opposed straight after the verb, with no preposition: they protested the demolition of the school. The meaning is public demonstration, such as marches and crowds, rather than a complaint on paper. Outside Canada and the US, the safer choice is the intransitive verb with against, as in protest against the demolition, which reads naturally everywhere.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To express opposition to or disagreement with something.

   Several members protested the proposed rule change.

   Neighbors protest the constant noise from the bar.

   Similaroppose, contest, challenge, dispute

   Oppositesupport, accept, endorse

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To declare or affirm something strongly, especially in the face of doubt.

   Defendants often protest their innocence even when the evidence mounts.

   She protested her good intentions, but no one believed her.

   Similarassert, maintain, proclaim, declare, affirm

   Note

   The affirming side of the word explains its Latin source. Prōtestārī is built on testis, "witness", so to protest something was to declare it solemnly, as if before witnesses. It takes a direct object (protest one's innocence) or a that-clause, as in Fielding's Tom Jones (1749), where a youth goes on "protesting that he thought him one of the honestest fellows". Nothing is being objected to here; the speaker is insisting.

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To call on someone or something as a witness when affirming or denying a claim, or as proof of what one asserts; to appeal to.

   Fiercely [they] opposed / My journey strange, with clamorous uproar / Protesting fate supreme.

   1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost

   Note

   Here the witness inside the word is still visible. In Milton's Paradise Lost (1667), a journey is opposed "with clamorous uproar / Protesting fate supreme", and fate itself is called to witness. It is the Latin testis behind the "affirm" meaning, used at its most literal. Readers meeting it in older verse should take it as appeal to, not object to.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   A notary public's formal noting that a bill has gone unpaid or unaccepted.

   The notary's protest established that the note had been dishonored.

   Banks rely on the protest as proof of nonpayment in court.

9. 9
   nouncountable

   A written declaration, usually by a ship's master, stating the circumstances of loss or damage to the ship or its cargo.

   The master's protest detailed the gale that swept three containers overboard.

   Insurers reviewed the protest before settling the cargo claim.

   Note

   Despite its name, this maritime document objects to nothing. The master sets down what happened to the ship or cargo so that the circumstances are on record. It is a declaration in the spirit of the "affirm" meaning, close to the witness at the word's root. It stands beside the notary's protest as one of the word's formal written instruments.

10. 10
    verbtransitive

    To make a solemn written declaration, through a notary public, against parties liable for loss from the non-payment or non-acceptance of a bill or note.

    When the draft was dishonored, the holder protested the bill the same day.

    The firm instructed its agent to protest the note before the deadline.

    Note

    This term of commercial law is a step with consequences. When a bill or note is dishonored, the holder has it protested so that every party liable can be held to the loss. The work belongs to a notary, usually under seal. The verb takes the instrument as its object (protest a bill, protest a note), and the resulting document is the notarial protest itself.

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