exertion

UK/ɪɡˈzɜːʃən/US/ɪɡˈzɝʃən/

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #11,984 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: exertions

Exertion is great physical or mental effort. Hard work, felt in the body.

It usually appears in medical advice, where avoiding strenuous exertion is what people are told after an operation, and in description, where somebody is red with exertion. It takes of when a faculty is named, so the exertion of authority is a formal phrase meaning the use of it. The verb exert means both to apply force and, reflexively, to make an effort. Physical exertion is close to a fixed phrase.

Definitions of exertion

1nounexertionStrenuous physical or mental effort.B2+
“He was flushed from the exertion of the climb.”

Practised in A Man Called Ove, A Song of Ice and Fire

First appears in chapter 6 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

exertion in the wild

Dyspnea is a normal symptom of heavy physical exertion but becomes pathological if it occurs in unexpected situations, when resting or during light exertion.
Shortness of breath
At FRC, the opposing elastic recoil forces of the lungs and chest wall are in equilibrium and there is no exertion by the diaphragm or other respiratory muscles.
Functional residual capacity
In medicine, this is used to document the patient's exertion during a test for the severity of various diseases.
Rating of perceived exertion
The original scale, introduced by Gunnar Borg in the 1960's, rated exertion on a scale of 6-20.
Rating of perceived exertion
Mrs. Dashwood immediately took all that trouble on herself; and Elinor had the benefit of the information without the exertion of seeking it.
Sense and Sensibility· Jane Austen

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

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