PERSEVERE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does persevere mean? 

• PERSEVERE (verb)
  The verb PERSEVERE has 1 sense:

1. be persistent, refuse to stop

  Familiarity information: PERSEVERE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERSEVERE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they persevere    ... he / she / it perseveres   
Past simple: persevered   
Past participle: persevered   
-ing form: persevering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be persistent, refuse to stop

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

hang in; hang on; hold on; persevere; persist

Context example:

The child persisted and kept asking questions

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

bear on; carry on; continue; preserve; uphold (keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last)

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

obstinate (persist stubbornly)

ask for it; ask for trouble (persist with actions or an attitude despite the probability that it will cause trouble)

plug; plug away (persist in working hard)

follow; stick to; stick with (keep to)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

perseverance; perseveration (the act of persisting or persevering; continuing or repeating behavior)

perseveration (the tendency for a memory or idea to persist or recur without any apparent stimulus for it)

 Context examples 

I will be cool, persevering, and prudent.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He had all the disposition to persevere that Sir Thomas could wish him.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“I think I am earnest and persevering?”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It made him so very unhappy, indeed, that it could not be persevered in.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Away walked Catherine in great agitation, as fast as the crowd would permit her, fearful of being pursued, yet determined to persevere.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

On Miss Lucas's persevering, however, she added, “Very well, if it must be so, it must.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He had not been known to them as a boy; but soon after Lady Elliot's death, Sir Walter had sought the acquaintance, and though his overtures had not been met with any warmth, he had persevered in seeking it, making allowance for the modest drawing-back of youth; and, in one of their spring excursions to London, when Elizabeth was in her first bloom, Mr Elliot had been forced into the introduction.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Teachers and pupils may look coldly on you for a day or two, but friendly feelings are concealed in their hearts; and if you persevere in doing well, these feelings will ere long appear so much the more evidently for their temporary suppression.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Elinor was alternately diverted and pained; but Marianne persevered, and saw every night in the brightness of the fire, and every morning in the appearance of the atmosphere, the certain symptoms of approaching frost.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

If 'genius is eternal patience', as Michelangelo affirms, Amy had some claim to the divine attribute, for she persevered in spite of all obstacles, failures, and discouragements, firmly believing that in time she should do something worthy to be called 'high art'.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)