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They would not rest until they had exacted revenge.
He was able to exact a promise from them.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exact.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The verb exact (as in, "exacting revenge" or "exacting a promise") is not as commonly encountered as the adjective exact, (as in "an exact copy" or "exact measurements"). Sometimes people will mistakenly use the more common verb extract when they really want exact. Extract can refer to removing something by pulling or cutting or to getting information from someone who does not want to give it. While both words refer to getting something they are used in different ways. You extract a tooth, but you exact revenge.
Exact derives from a form of the Latin verb exigere, meaning "to drive out, to demand, or to measure." (Another descendant of exigere is the word exigent, which can mean "demanding" or "requiring immediate attention.") Exigere, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix ex- with the verb agere, meaning "to drive." Agere has been a very prolific source of words for English speakers; it is the ancestor of agent, react, mitigate, and navigate, just to name a few. Incidentally, if you are looking for a synonym of the verb exact, you could try demand, call for, claim, or require.
Those were his exact words.
The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.
We don't know the exact nature of the problem.
Predicting the path of hurricanes is not an exact science.
The police have an exact description of the killer.
Please take the most exact measurements possible.
He is very exact in the way he solves a problem.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exact.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use: 1533
in the meaning defined at sense 1
See Words from the same yearapparent, clear, clear-cut, evident, manifest, obvious, open-and-shut, palpable, patent, perspicuous, plain, transparent, unambiguous, unequivocal, unmistakable;
frivolous, inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, negligible, petty, piddling, trifling, trivial;
demanding, exacting, fastidious, finical, finicking, finicky, fussy, meticulous, particular, picky;
: to demand and get (something, such as payment or revenge) especially by using force or threats
—used in phrases like exact a terrible toll and exact a high/heavy price to say that something has caused a lot of suffering, loss, etc.
: fully and completely correct or accurate
: very careful and accurate
See words that rhyme with exact Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for exact Spanish Central: Translation of exact Nglish: Translation of exact for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of exact for Arabic speakers
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