Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Insist
In-sist′
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Insisted
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Insisting
.] [F.
insister
, L. insistere
to set foot upon, follow, persist; pref. in-
in + sistere
to stand, cause to stand. See Stand
.] 1.
To stand or rest; to find support; – with in, on, or upon.
[R.]
Ray.
2.
To take a stand and refuse to give way; to hold to something firmly or determinedly; to be persistent, urgent, or pressing; to persist in demanding; – followed by on, upon, or that;
as, he
insisted
on these conditions; he insisted
on going at once; he insists
that he must have money.Insisting
on the old prerogative. Shakespeare
Insist implies some alleged right, as authority or claim. Persist may be from obstinacy alone, and either with or against rights. We insist as against others; we persist in what exclusively relates to ourselves;
as, he
. persisted
in that course; he insisted
on his friend’s adopting itC. J. Smith.
Webster 1828 Edition
Insist
INSIST'
,Verb.
I.
1.
Literally, to stand or rest on. [Rarely used.]2.
In geometry, an angle is said to insist upon the arc of the circle intercepted between the two lines which contain the angle.3.
To dwell on in discourse; as, to insist on a particular topic.To insist on, to press or urge for any thing with immovable firmness; to persist in demands; as, to insist on oppressive terms in a treaty; to insist on immediate payment of a debt.
Definition 2024
insist
insist
English
Alternative forms
- ensist
Verb
insist (third-person singular simple present insists, present participle insisting, simple past and past participle insisted)
- (with on or upon or (that + ordinary verb form)) To hold up a claim emphatically.
- The defendant insisted on his innocence.
- I insist that my secretary dresses nicely. (I am defending her; see a similar example in the context below for comparison.)
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
- But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, […] . We began to tell her about Mohair and the cotillon, and of our point of observation from the Florentine galleried porch, and she insisted she would join us there.
- 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:
- Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.
- (sometimes with on or upon or (that + subjunctive)) To demand continually that something happen or be done.
- The Prime Minister insisted on his Chancellor's resignation.
- The Prime Minister insisted that his Chancellor resign.
- I insist that my secretary dress nicely.
- (obsolete, chiefly geometry) To stand (on); to rest (upon); to lean (upon).
- 1709, Venturus Mandey, Synopsis Mathematica Universalis
- Angles likewise which insist on the Diameter, are all Right Angles.
- 1709, Venturus Mandey, Synopsis Mathematica Universalis
Translations
to hold up a claim emphatically
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to demand that something be done