Both Uses of
assert
in
The Devil and Tom Walker
- Any one but he would have felt unwilling to linger in this lonely, melancholy place, for the common people had a bad opinion of it, from the stories handed down from the times of the Indian wars, when it was asserted that the savages held incantations here and made sacrifices to the Evil Spirit.†
*
- Some asserted that she lost her way among the tangled mazes of the swamp, and sank into some pit or slough; others, more uncharitable, hinted that she had eloped with the household booty, and made off to some other province; while others surmised that the tempter had decoyed her into a dismal quagmire, on the top of which her hat was found lying.†
Definitions:
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(1)
(assert as in: asserted her opinion that...) to say that something is true -- especially something disputed
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(2)
(assert as in: asserted her authority) to be forceful in exercising influence or rights