See Also: Exercise(finance)
Exercise ECG(health)
Exercise value(finance)
exercise(1)(dictionary)
exercise(2)(dictionary)
exercise(encyclopedia)
Exercise(medicine)
Exercise(money)
Exercise value(money)
Exercise price(finance)

exercise(1) (iou)



exercise noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French exercice from Latin exercitium, from exercere keep busy, practise, formed as EX-1 1 + arcere keep in, keep away.]
The employment or application of an organ, faculty, right, etc.; the exertion of influence or power; the practice of a virtue, function, profession, etc. ME.
R. G. Collingwood Reconstructed historically, often not without the exercise of considerable historical skill. New York Times The exercise of the right of self-determination cannot be denied.
b. The (method of) use of a weapon. LME-L17.
Practice for the sake of physical, mental, or spiritual training or improvement. ME.
b. Disciplinary suffering; a trying experience; a state of distress or anxiety; a painful mental struggle. Now rare. LME.
c. Acquired skill. rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.
a. The action or an act of training or drilling troops, scholars, etc. LME-E19.
b. A military drill or parade; in pl., military training, athletics, etc. M16.
Exertion of the muscles, limbs, etc., esp. for the sake of strength or health. LME.
A. E. T. Watson These horses have their own boys, who ride at exercise. Jo Grimond She was much given to exercise, in her younger days chiefly golf, later long walks.
A task set or performed for training the body or mind, or as a test of proficiency, esp. in some particular skill. M16.
P. G. Wodehouse Kirk..was engaged on his daily sparring exercise with Steve Dingle. S. Lewis He stood on the sleeping-porch and did his day's exercises. M. Girouard His stone-faced stables are an elaborate and convincing exercise in neo-Palladianism. Times Educational Supplement The damage limitation exercise meant that plans..were put on ice.
b. A dissertation, composition, etc., submitted for a degree; a disputation, a viva voce. M16.
c. Something written by a pupil; something designed to afford practice to a learner. E17.
E. Blishen If I gave the class an exercise he rarely got beyond writing the date.
d. Any written composition; an essay, a sermon, a treatise. E18.
e. In pl. Formal acts or ceremonies on some special occasion, esp. the conferment of a degree. N. Amer. M19.
A habitual occupation; a customary practice. M16-M18.
A religious observance or act of worship; a sermon; an act of preaching or prophesying. M16.
b. The discussion of a passage of Scripture; a meeting of a Presbytery for such a discussion; a Presbytery. Scot. L16.
c. The practice and performance of religious ceremonies, worship, etc; the right to this. M17.
Phrases: FIVE-finger exercise. manual exercise: see MANUAL adjective. the object of the exercise the essential purpose of an action or procedure.
Comb.: exercise book a notebook in which to do school exercises; a book containing set exercises; exercise bicycle, (colloq.) exercise bike a stationary apparatus used for exercise, in which a person can sit and pedal against resistance, like a cyclist; exercise price Stock Exchange the price per share at which the owner of a traded option is entitled to buy or sell the underlying security; exercise yard an enclosed area used for physical exercise.