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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
insist
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
always
▪ She always insisted on doing it herself and that made it easy for you.
▪ Successful entrepreneurs always insist on some form of agreement, even if it is just a simple letter confirming a conversation.
▪ Why do you always insist on burgling only second floor flats?
▪ Knowing that, later I always insisted we send our very best, not our worst, when we were called on.
▪ But he always insisted that the Council was his responsibility.
▪ He has always insisted, however, that the legacy of Rossellini was not merely stylistic.
▪ Chadwick had always insisted that ultimate sanitary authority needed to remain with non-medical administrators.
▪ Owner Eddie DeBartolo has always insisted they stay in the finest hotels on the road.
on
▪ Croydon Corporation were insisting on specially dressed stone setts.
▪ The girl had insisted on driving her all the way home.
▪ The site operators enforce safety controls far tougher than those insisted on by Government.
▪ He was a kind of male Malinche figure, one who insisted on otherness rather than on accommodation.
▪ It was the coldest time of the year and the first thing I insisted on was having a telephone.
▪ Successful entrepreneurs always insist on some form of agreement, even if it is just a simple letter confirming a conversation.
▪ Labour would insist on legally enforceable democracy in a union's internal affairs.
still
▪ Czechoslovakia still insists on an inflated hard currency exchange rate which reflects its closed economy.
▪ Not so, the Treasury still insists.
▪ Simeon still insisted, against all plausibility, that he would graduate from City as an electrical engineer.
▪ If he or she still insists on following you around, make it clear that they can come no closer.
▪ But Mel still insisted they had nothing to worry about.
▪ We are still insisting that the attack on Baghdad was carried out to protect the lives of our air crew.
▪ Some councils therefore still insist on every committee decision being referred to the full council for confirmation or rejection.
■ NOUN
government
▪ We saluted the Press, mentioning the government forces that insisted on closing down our city's own broadcasting station.
▪ Panel members and airline and government officials insist that fears about bias and invasion of privacy are unfounded.
▪ Will we see one day the government insisting that games have time limiters the way that some motor vehicles have speed limiters?
▪ But the Government insisted there's no case to answer.
▪ The government insisted that they did.
▪ The Government has insisted that confidence is needed before the economy can improve.
▪ The crisis surrounding the tunnel threatens to embarrass the Government, which insisted it be financed entirely by the private sector.
official
▪ In addition, the legislation is intended to make the Fed more accountable to elected officials by insisting on reforms.
▪ Crawford says Blue Heron officials insist a soundstage is sorely needed to boost film revenues here.
▪ The Commission official insisted these loans were repayable with interest, and did not constitute a subsidy.
▪ Panel members and airline and government officials insist that fears about bias and invasion of privacy are unfounded.
▪ Government officials insisted that they were not going to build walls or put up barbed wire round the embassies.
▪ The idea, state officials insist, was merely to turn the protesters around with a show of force.
▪ But planning officials and Labour councillors insist the scheme will works only if it gives shoppers maximum access to the road.
▪ University officials have insisted, however, they will pay relocation expenses to the businesses.
■ VERB
continue
▪ Councillor Mrs Mairhi Trickett continued to insist that everything they had done was in the best interests of the children.
▪ However, Lindsey continued to insist that the social description was the appropriate characterization because the policy talk was incidental.
▪ These are the reasons why many socialists continue to insist that planning is still superior to the market.
▪ Robert Kennedy, however, continued to insist on a less belligerent initial response.
▪ Administration scientists continue to insist that there is no proven link between C02 emissions and global warming.
▪ Thus, they continue to insist that they have right of access to hacienda resources.
▪ Despite this development, however, the company founders continued to insist that they were not in the contract-programming business.
▪ The United States continued to insist that any deal-making regarding the divided peninsula would have to involve Seoul.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "I really need to speak to you now." "Oh, all right if you insist."
▪ He was a religious man who insisted his children went to church every Sunday.
▪ I didn't want to tell dad about the fight, but he insisted.
▪ I wanted to pay by cheque but the landlord insisted that I pay him in cash.
▪ Let me pay this time. I insist.
▪ Many workers now insist on a smoke-free environment.
▪ Mom always insists that we keep our rooms neat.
▪ The man insisted on helping me find a taxi even though I told him I didn't need any help.
▪ They're insisting we report the matter to the police right away.
▪ Though there are no other witnesses, she insists she saw a man in the yard that night.
▪ UFO spotters will always insist that their data is correct.
▪ We hadn't intended to stay for another drink, but our host insisted.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Insist

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.]

  1. To stand or rest; to find support; -- with in, on, or upon. [R.]
    --Ray.

  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.

    Insisting on the old prerogative.
    --Shak.

    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.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
insist

1580s, from Latin insistere "persist, dwell upon, stand upon," from in- "upon" (see in- (2)) + sistere "take a stand" (see assist). Perhaps in some cases a back-formation from insistence. Related: Insisted; insisting.

Wiktionary
insist

vb. (context with on or upon or (that + ordinary verb form) English) To hold up a claim emphatically.

WordNet
insist
  1. v. be insistent and refuse to budge; "I must insist!" [syn: take a firm stand]

  2. beg persistently and urgently; "I importune you to help them" [syn: importune]

  3. assert to be true; "The letter asserts a free society" [syn: assert]

Usage examples of "insist".

Maggie had insisted that Miss Abernethy would be mortally insulted by a food basket.

She should insist on staying, but Abram spoke to her profile and changed her mind for her.

Receiving Adams with all customary cordiality, Franklin insisted that he move in with him to quarters previously occupied by Silas Deane.

When Ridley insisted he must, Adams agreed, but then, putting on his coat to leave, seemed to change his mind.

Nor had Adams proven himself a monarchist, as some like Maclay kept insisting.

Nor did reason have any bearing on what was happening in France, Adams insisted in another letter: Reasoning has been all lost.

Convinced that Adams was deliberately withholding information favorable to the French, Republicans in and out of Congress began insisting that the documents be made available at once.

Though it was clearly a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech, its Federalist proponents in Congress insisted, like Adams, that it was a war measure, and an improvement on the existing common law in that proof of the truth of the libel could be used as a legitimate defense.

Kundera himself has insisted that his novels, like all novels, be received aesthetically rather than politically.

Later he recalled that one of the agents was Tom Callaghan, but still insisted that he, Refai, was not the target of any investigation.

After Please Please Me, which included all four sides of their first two singles, they insisted that their singles not be included on their albums so that fans would not have to buy the same recordings over again.

Colonel Alkides trying to be respectful to his superiors even when they insisted on standing in his line of fire.

Sir Alured, under these circumstances, discussed his own death with extreme satisfaction, and insisted on having it discussed by the others.

The next morning at the office Andi beat against the latest barrage of incoming paperwork, only breaking at nine twenty-five because Lena swung around with a level gaze and insisted she call her mother.

One lad, who did not train in the set of Andy and his friends, insisted on joining in the chorus with one of the singers, and matters got to such a pass that the manager rang down the curtain and threatened to stop the performance unless the students behaved.