Sample sentences for PERSIST - verbalworkout.com

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Definition

to continue — often despite difficulty

The child persisted in asking questions despite my obvious desire to be left alone.

persisted = continued

persist = continue

...he persists in saying he saw the ghost after I have told him that no such thing can possibly be.
Wilkie Collins -- The Woman in White
But the rumors persisted.
John Le Carre -- The Spy Who Came In From The Cold

persisted = continued

Not just to love—but to persist in love.
Sue Monk Kidd -- The Secret Life of Bees

persist = continue

even with the sheep gone their smell persisted.
Hal Borland -- When the Legends Die

persisted = continued

They enter complaining of the cold that has persisted this far into spring,
Jhumpa Lahiri -- The Namesake

persisted = continued

I woke in the dark after dreaming that I was buried alive, and when I was awake the feeling of suffocation persisted.
Jean Rhys -- Wide Sargasso Sea

persisted = continued

And yet I persist like a stubborn mule in my efforts.
Nicole Krauss -- The History of Love

persist = continue

"Star, this wasn't on your sketch."

She didn't answer. I persisted, "Well, it wasn't. Was it?"
Robert A. Heinlein -- Glory Road

persisted = continued despite a lack of cooperation

She reached for Sarah's hand again, and even though Sarah pulled it away at first, she persisted until Sarah relented.
Nicholas Sparks -- A Bend in the Road

persisted = continued despite difficulty

Meanwhile, the old man persisted in his attempt to strike up a conversation.
Paulo Coelho -- The Alchemist

persisted = continued (often despite difficulty)

But the new doctor persisted; he came each day, and his questions dissolved the edges of the fog, and his voice sounded louder every time he came.
Leslie Marmon Silko -- Ceremony

persisted = continued — despite difficulty

They persisted in pleading Not Guilty to first-degree murder,
Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird

persisted = continued

She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it.
Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird

persisted = continued

By evening the voice dwindles to a croaking. But it persists still through the whole night.
Erich Maria Remarque -- All Quiet on the Western Front

persists = continues

  "How old are you, anyway?" she asked, squinting at him.
  ...
  "I'm one hundred and four years old," he told her solemnly.
  "No, I mean really," she persisted.
Natalie Babbitt -- Tuck Everlasting

persisted = continued asking (despite difficulty)

But the thought asserted itself, and persisted, until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen.
Jack London -- To Build a Fire

persisted = continued

"You still didn't say why you haven't carved anything in that space on the totem," Edwin persisted.
Ben Mikaeslen -- Touching Spirit Bear

persisted = continued despite difficulties

In vain I persisted that Bartleby was nothing to me—no more than to any one else.
Herman Melville -- Bartleby, the Scrivener: a Story of Wall Street

persisted = continued (despite difficulty)

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