Library / English Dictionary

ASSERT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Postulate positively and assertively

Example:

The letter asserts a free society

Synonyms:

assert; insist

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "assert" is one way to...):

posit; postulate (take as a given; assume as a postulate or axiom)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

assertable (capable of being affirmed or asserted)

assertion (the act of affirming or asserting or stating something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true

Example:

Before God I swear I am innocent

Synonyms:

affirm; assert; aver; avow; swan; swear; verify

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "assert" is one way to...):

declare (state emphatically and authoritatively)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "assert"):

hold (assert or affirm)

claim; take (lay claim to; as of an idea)

attest (authenticate, affirm to be true, genuine, or correct, as in an official capacity)

declare (state firmly)

protest (affirm or avow formally or solemnly)

assure; tell (inform positively and with certainty and confidence)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They assert that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

assertable (capable of being affirmed or asserted)

asserter (someone who claims to speak the truth)

assertion (the act of affirming or asserting or stating something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

State categorically

Synonyms:

assert; asseverate; maintain

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "assert" is one way to...):

insist; take a firm stand (be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "assert"):

allege; aver; say (report or maintain)

predicate; proclaim (affirm or declare as an attribute or quality of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They assert that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

assertable (capable of being affirmed or asserted)

assertion (a declaration that is made emphatically (as if no supporting evidence were necessary))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Insist on having one's opinions and rights recognized

Example:

Women should assert themselves more!

Synonyms:

assert; put forward

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "assert" is one way to...):

acquit; bear; behave; carry; comport; conduct; deport (behave in a certain manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

assertive (aggressively self-assured)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I could almost assert that you had named Mr. Frank Churchill.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She would only smile and assert.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

If you feel your home is perfect, just the way you want it to be, then Saturn could assert a different influence.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I do not mean, however, to assert that we can be justified in devoting too much of our time to music, for there are certainly other things to be attended to.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

It has been asserted that certain tumors promote inflammation via IL23A to induce angiogenesis.

(IL23A wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

A coded value specifying whether and to what degree this evaluation or observation has been asserted to be in doubt in any way.

(Evaluated Activity Relationship Uncertainty Code, NCI Thesaurus)

Well, continued Mrs Smith, triumphantly, grant my friend the credit due to the establishment of the first point asserted.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

And if Catherine had not most warmly asserted his innocence, it seemed likely that William would lose the favour of his master forever, if not his place, by her rapidity.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The engineers who developed the technique, Fei Chen, Paul Tillberg and Edward Boyden at MIT, assert it offers the ability to image large, intact, 3-D brain structures with nanoscale precision for the first time.

(Bigger is better for brain tissue understanding, NSF)

It would be fascinating to know whether dolphins respond to special calls made by fishermen, as Pliny the Elder asserted nearly two thousand years ago, says evolutionary biologist Dr Claire Spottiswoode (University of Cambridge and University of Cape Town).

(How humans and wild Honeyguide birds call each other to help, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)