Ex"er*cise (?), n. [F. exercice,
L. exercitium, from exercere, exercitum, to
drive on, keep, busy, prob. orig., to thrust or drive out of the
inclosure; ex out + arcere to shut up, inclose. See
Ark.] 1. The act of exercising; a setting
in action or practicing; employment in the proper mode of activity;
exertion; application; use; habitual activity; occupation, in
general; practice.
exercise of the important function confided by the
constitution to the legislature.
Jefferson.
O we will walk this world,
Yoked in all exercise of noble end.
Tennyson.
2. Exertion for the sake of training or
improvement whether physical, intellectual, or moral; practice to
acquire skill, knowledge, virtue, perfectness, grace, etc.
"Desire of knightly exercise." Spenser.
An exercise of the eyes and
memory.
Locke.
3. Bodily exertion for the sake of keeping
the organs and functions in a healthy state; hygienic activity; as,
to take exercise on horseback.
The wise for cure on exercise
depend.
Dryden.
4. The performance of an office, a ceremony,
or a religious duty.
Lewis refused even those of the church of England . .
. the public exercise of their religion.
Addison.
To draw him from his holy
exercise.
Shak.
5. That which is done for the sake of
exercising, practicing, training, or promoting skill, health, mental,
improvement, moral discipline, etc.; that which is assigned or
prescribed for such ends; hence, a disquisition; a lesson; a task;
as, military or naval exercises; musical exercises; an
exercise in composition.
The clumsy exercises of the European
tourney.
Prescott.
He seems to have taken a degree, and performed public
exercises in Cambridge, in 1565.
Brydges.
6. That which gives practice; a trial; a
test.
Patience is more oft the exercise
Of saints, the trial of their fortitude.
Milton.
Exercise bone (Med.), a deposit of
bony matter in the soft tissues, produced by pressure or
exertion.
Ex"er*cise (?), v. t. [imp. &
p. p. Exercised (?); p. pr. & vb.
n. Exercising (?).] 1. To set
in action; to cause to act, move, or make exertion; to give
employment to; to put in action habitually or constantly; to school
or train; to exert repeatedly; to busy.
Herein do I Exercise myself, to have always a
conscience void of offence.
Acts xxiv. 16.
2. To exert for the sake of training or
improvement; to practice in order to develop; hence, also, to improve
by practice; to discipline, and to use or to for the purpose of
training; as, to exercise arms; to exercise one's self
in music; to exercise troops.
About him exercised heroic games
The unarmed youth.
Milton.
3. To occupy the attention and effort of; to
task; to tax, especially in a painful or vexatious manner; harass; to
vex; to worry or make anxious; to affect; to discipline; as,
exercised with pain.
Where pain of unextinguishable fire
Must exercise us without hope of end.
Milton.
4. To put in practice; to carry out in
action; to perform the duties of; to use; to employ; to practice; as,
to exercise authority; to exercise an office.
I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness,
judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
Jer. ix.
24.
The people of the land have used oppression and
exercised robbery.
Ezek. xxii. 29.
Ex"er*cise, v. i. To exercise
one's self, as under military training; to drill; to take exercise;
to use action or exertion; to practice gymnastics; as, to
exercise for health or amusement.
I wear my trusty sword,
When I do exercise.
Cowper.
