exercise

Syllables: ex·er·ciseUK/ˈɛk.sə.saɪz//ˈɛk.sɚ.saɪz/

exercise noun: any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability.

Noun

exercise (countable and uncountable, plural exercises)

(countable) Any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability.
- The teacher told us that the next exercise is to write an essay.
- Where noyse of armes, or vew of martiall guize / Might not reuiue desire of knightly exercize.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 25
Synonyms:

practice, practicing, drill, drilling
Activity intended to improve physical, or sometimes mental, strength and fitness.
- I like to do my exercises every morning before breakfast. I do calisthenics for physical exercise, and I do crosswords for mental exercise.
- Regular mental exercise keeps the circuits of the brain active and healthy and reduces the risk of dementia.2018, Timothy R. Jennings, The Aging Brain, →ISBN, page 107
1. Such activity of physical nature, for physical fitness (plus also mental benefit).
  - Swimming is good exercise.
  - She does stomach exercises every day.
2. Such activity of mental nature, for neurocognitive health.
  - Such exercises as puzzles and chess can help keep the mind sharp as we age.
A setting in action or practicing; employment in the proper mode of activity; exertion; application; use.
- The law guarantees us the free exercise of our rights.
- We urge the exercise of patience and restraint.
The performance of an office, ceremony, or duty.
- I assisted the ailing vicar in the exercise of his parish duties.
- Lewis[…] refused even those of the church of England[…]the public exercise of their religion.1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
(obsolete) That which gives practice; a trial; a test.
- But patience is more oft the exerciſe / Of Saints, the trial of thir fortitude,1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 77

Verb

exercise (third-person singular simple present exercises, present participle exercising, simple past and past participle exercised)

To exert for the sake of training or improvement; to practice in order to develop.
- to exercise troops or horses; to exercise one's brain with a puzzle
(intransitive) To perform physical activity for health or training.
- I exercise at the gym every day.
(transitive) To use (a right, an option, etc.); to put into practice.
- exercise caution
- The tenant exercised his option to renew the tenancy.
Synonyms:

assert
(now often passive voice) 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.
- exercised with pain
- It is not a question that has exercised me greatly in the past.
(obsolete) To set in action; to cause to act, move, or make exertion; to give employment to.
- And herein doe I exercise my selfe to haue alwayes a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 24:16
- Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence.1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy)...

exercise meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

exercise in Hindi

physical activity intended to improve strength and fitness: वर्ज़िश varziś, कसरत kasrat, व्यायाम vyāyām
any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability: व्यायाम vyāyām, अभ्यास abhyās, रियाज़ riyāz

exercise in Tamil

physical activity intended to improve strength and fitness: உடற்பயிற்சி uṭaṟpayiṟci
any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability: பயிற்சி payiṟci

exercise in Marathi

to exercise, employ, use: लढवणे laḍhavṇe

exercise in Urdu

physical activity intended to improve strength and fitness: وَرْزِش varziś, کسرت kasrat, رِیاضَت riyāzat
any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability: مَشْق maśq, مَشّاقی maśśāqī, تَمْرِین tamrīn

More languagesFewer languages

exercise in Bengali: ব্যায়াম bêẏam
exercise in Telugu: శ్రమము śramamu
exercise in Malayalam: വ്യായാമം vyāyāmaṁ, അഭ്യാസം abhyāsaṁ
exercise in Kannada: ಅಭ್ಯಾಸ abhyāsa
exercise in Punjabi: ਵਰਜ਼ਸ਼ varzaś
exercise in Gujarati: કસરત kasrat
exercise in Sanskrit: व्यायाम vyāyāmá
exercise in Sinhala: ව්යායාමය wyāyāmaya
exercise in Pashto: مشق mašq, تمرين tamrín
exercise in Tagalog: pagsasanay
exercise in Arabic: تَمْرِين tamrīn, تَدْرِيب tadrīb, تَمَرَّنَ tamarrana
exercise in Malay: senaman, latihan, latih tubi
exercise in Indonesian: latihan, olahraga
exercise in Thai: การออกกำลังกาย gaan-ɔ̀ɔk-gam-lang-gaai, แบบฝึกหัด bɛ̀ɛp-fʉ̀k-hàt, ฝึก fʉ̀k, หัด hàt
exercise in Vietnamese: vận động, thể dục, luyện tập
exercise in Myanmar: လေ့ကျင့်ခန်း le.kyang.hkan:, လေ့ကျင့် le.kyang.

Examples of exercise in a sentence

She is going to exercise her right to vote.
O we will walk this world, / Yoked in all exercise of noble end.1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London...
The people of the land haue vsed oppression, and exercised robbery, and haue vexed the poore and needie: yea, they haue oppressed the stranger wrongfully.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 22:29:
Where pain of unextinguiſhable fire / Muſt exerciſe us without hope of end1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert...

All 40 example sentences with exercise

Synonyms of exercise

All synonyms of exercise

Forms of exercise

Noun
plural	exercises
alternative form	exercice
alternative form (obsolete)	exercize
Verb
third-person singular present	exercises
present participle	exercising
past participle	exercised
past	exercised

Past tense of exercise: exercised

Plural of exercise: exercises

Origin of exercise

From Middle English exercise, from Old French exercise, from Latin exercitium. Displaced native Old English plega (“an exercise”) whence Modern English play.

Words formed from exercise

Phrases with exercise

5 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with exercise

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about exercise

What does exercise mean?: Exercise means any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability.
What is exercise in Hindi?: Exercise in Hindi is वर्ज़िश (varziś), कसरत (kasrat), व्यायाम (vyāyām). See Exercise meaning in Hindi.
How do you use exercise in a sentence?: She is going to exercise her right to vote.
What part of speech is exercise?: Exercise can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce exercise?: Exercise is pronounced /ˈɛk.sə.saɪz/ (UK).
What is the plural of exercise?: The plural of exercise is exercises.

Words near exercise in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: exercise (page history and authors); लढवणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); శ్రమము (Telugu) (page history and authors); ಅಭ್ಯಾಸ (Kannada) (page history and authors); કસરત (Gujarati) (page history and authors); व्यायाम (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-exercise.ogg.

Cite this entry: “exercise.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/exercise. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.