'Insist' definitions:

Definition of 'insist'

From: WordNet
verb
Be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge; "I must insist!" [syn: insist, take a firm stand]
verb
Beg persistently and urgently; "I importune you to help them" [syn: importune, insist]
verb
Assert to be true; "The letter asserts a free society" [syn: insist, assert]

Definition of 'Insist'

From: GCIDE
  • Insist \In*sist"\, v. 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.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. To stand or rest; to find support; -- with in, on, or upon. [R.] --Ray. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Insisting on the old prerogative. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Without further insisting on the different tempers of Juvenal and Horace. --Dryden.
  • Syn: Insist, Persist.
  • Usage: 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 it. --C. J. Smith. [1913 Webster]