† 1. The action of putting forth; manifestation, display. Const. of. Obs.
1668. Howe, Bless. Righteous (1825), 252. O my Soul take thy allowed pleasure in such exertions of God, as thou dost now experience in thyself.
1682. Sir T. Browne, Chr. Mor. (1716), 33. Could we intimately apprehend the Ideated Man, and as he stood in the intellect of God upon the first exertion by Creation.
a. 1768. Secker, Serm., I. x. A proper exertion of that chearfulness, which God hath plainly designed us to shew.
1796. Jane Austen, Sense & Sens. (1849), 99. An exertion of spirits, which increased with her increase of emotion.
2. The action or habit of exerting or putting into active operation (an organ, the faculties, or habit of the body or mind); the action of exercising or putting in force (power, a principle). Also an instance of this. Const. of.
1677. Hale, Prim. Orig. Man., I. i. 21. The several exertions of the several organs relating to their several functions.
1736. Butler, Anal., I. v. Wks. 1874, I. 88. Habits of the mind are produced by the exertion of inward practical principles.
1756. Burke, Vind. Nat. Soc., Wks. 1842, I. 15. A timidity which hinders the full exertion of his faculties.
1761–2. Hume, Hist. Eng. (1806), III. App. iii. 600. [Elizabeth’s] imperious temper … rendered her exertions of power violent and frequent.
1817. Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. V. vi. 568–9. Carrying the exertion of their powers to a height more extraordinary than they had before attempted.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, xxiv. By a skilful exertion of strength and address, the body of Bonthron was placed safely on the ground.
attrib. 1889. Pall Mall Gaz., 2 Dec., 6/2. Exertion money, that is, the girls are set to work against one another by the promise that those who work the hardest shall be paid 1s. extra.
3. The action of exerting oneself; vigorous action; effort; an instance or mode of exerting oneself.
1777. Robertson, Hist. Amer. (1778), I. II. 125. The constitution of their bodies [was] naturally … unaccustomed to the laborious exertions of industry.
1806–7. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), II. xxxvi. Working the dumb-bells and other irrational exertions.
1810. Wellington, in Gurw., Disp., VI. 327. To stimulate others to similar exertions.
1844. Thirlwall, Greece, VIII. lxi. 100. The fire was soon extinguished by the exertions of the soldiers.
1853. Sir H. Douglas, Mil. Bridges, vi. (ed. 3), 289. Every exertion should be made … to restore a passage.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xxii. 152. The intense cold, which compelled them to keep up the proper supply of heat by increased exertion.
1876. J. H. Newman, Hist. Sk., I. II. i. 247. His health … was as yet unequal to the exertion of pleading.
