How to Use exert in a Sentence

exert

verb
Definition of exertnext
Synonyms for exertnext
  • He had to exert all of his strength to move the stone.
  • He exerts a lot of influence on the other members of the committee.
  • Once the seed has sprouted, some seedlings are able to exert enough force to push through the fine opening in the asphalt.
    — Melinda Myers, Journal Sentinel, 12 Jan. 2024
  • The system may be the center of the universe, but the stars exert a gravity of their own.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 1 Dec. 2023
  • The thruster’s two hydraulic cylinders will exert force on the clamp, pushing the pipe and MTBM through the mountain.
    — Arkansas Online, 17 July 2022
  • That is about 10 times the pressure that is exerted at the bottom of the ocean’s deepest trenches.
    — Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2023
  • But Valdez also knows how and when to pull back and exert pointed restraint.
    — Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2024
  • This means that light shining on an object can exert a force.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 10 Apr. 2023
  • The winds will exert a chill, so dress for winter even as sunshine pushes highs above 50 for most.
    — Jason Samenow, Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2024
  • In classical mechanics, the Sun exerts a force on the Earth equal in magnitude to the force that the Earth exerts back on the Sun.
    — Larry M. Silverberg, Discover Magazine, 8 Dec. 2023
  • The high gears, however, came up a bit short, as there was no way to pedal fast enough to exert force when the assist was maxed out.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 15 Dec. 2023
  • In the end, the debate highlights, once more, how much control Musk can exert over public goods, Lewandowsky says.
    — Bykai Kupferschmidt, science.org, 8 Feb. 2023
  • The Celtics, 76ers, and Knicks were banking on the Bucks having to exert effort in that series before moving on to the second round.
    — Gary Washburn, BostonGlobe.com, 6 May 2023
  • In China, public homage to the dead often serves as a method of last resort to exert pressure on the living.
    — Jiayang Fan, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2022
  • The new study suggests the forces that Earth exerted on the moon would have led to widespread upheaval and intense heating.
    — Charles Q. Choi, Space.com, 18 Dec. 2024
  • The exam also found the injuries were not consistent with child-sized hands or the level of force a child could exert.
    — Erik S. Hanley, Journal Sentinel, 9 July 2024
  • Well, hypertension constricts the blood vessels, and this causes the blood to exert more pressure on the artery walls.
    — Discover Magazine, 29 Apr. 2023
  • Who is this person who exerts this kind of pressure intensely on the people around him?
    — CBS News, 30 July 2023
  • Those victims had to exert pressure on the powerful to act, trust and confide in the legal process and share their stories.
    — Matthias Katsch, CNN, 27 Jan. 2022
  • Through her tale, Carr depicts the ways in which women can care for and exert power over one another.
    — The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
  • Through her tale, Carr depicts the ways in which women can care for and exert power over one another.
    — The New Yorker, 12 June 2024
  • The scarcity of homes for sale will continue to exert upward pressure on prices.
    — Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 May 2024
  • When your neck is bent in a 45 degree angle looking down at your computer, your head can exert up to 50 pounds of force on your neck.
    — Talene Appleton, Men's Health, 26 Jan. 2023
  • An increase in abdominal fat of just a few pounds can exert a stress of many times that amount on the lower back muscles to keep the body upright.
    — Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 2 June 2022
  • These vortices can also exert extra forces on the raft, sufficient to break it apart.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 16 Sep. 2022
  • Russia has used its gas exports to Europe as a lever to exert pressure on the European Union.
    — Somini Sengupta, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2022
  • The control many Asian immigrant parents exert does not come from a malicious place, as the movie shows.
    — NBC News, 18 Mar. 2022
  • Both Cameron and Emmerich are known for exerting a fairly high-degree of control over their sets.
    — Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 13 Aug. 2024
  • Vox Lux appeared to exert a cultural imperative that The Brutalist neglects for repugnant elitism.
    — Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2025
  • Yet the imposition of financial obstacles to limit access to care still exerts a powerful influence on healthcare policy in the U.S.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'exert.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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