What's the difference between insist and persist?

Insist


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To stand or rest; to find support; -- with in, on, or upon.
  • (v. i.) 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.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) David Cameron has insisted that membership of the European Union is in Britain's national interest and vital for "millions of jobs and millions of families", as he urged his own backbenchers not to back calls for a referendum on the UK's relationship with Brussels.
  • (2) Midtrimester abortion by the dilatation and evacuation (D&E) method has generated controversy among health care providers; many authorities insist that this procedure should be performed only by a small group of experts.
  • (3) However, he has also insisted that North Korea live up to its own commitments, adhere to its international obligations and deal peacefully with its neighbours.
  • (4) Earlier this month, Khamenei insisted that all sanctions be lifted immediately on a deal being reached, a condition that the US State Department dismissed.
  • (5) At the trial Arena admitted involvement in criminal activity, but insisted he was innocent of the murders.
  • (6) They insist this is the best way of ensuring the country does not descend into chaos before the final withdrawal of combat troops.
  • (7) When allegations of systemic doping and cover-ups first emerged in the runup to the 2013 Russian world athletics championships, an IOC spokesman insisted: “Anti-doping measures in Russia have improved significantly over the last five years with an effective, efficient and new laboratory and equipment in Moscow.” London Olympics were sabotaged by Russia’s doping, report says Read more We now know that the head of that lauded Moscow lab, Grigory Rodchenko, admitted to intentionally destroying 1,417 samples in December last year shortly before Wada officials visited.
  • (8) Uruguay's coach, Oscar Tabárez, had insisted yesterday that his player should face only a one-match ban.
  • (9) Car manufacturers, for example, are not allowed to insist that buyers only get their car serviced by them.
  • (10) It certainly isn’t a good time for the association but we as a team are insisting on this being cleared up transparently and Wolfgang Niersbach, as president, is part of that.
  • (11) Sharif's family insist that he still runs the party from jail.
  • (12) The prime minister insisted, however, that he and other world leaders were not being stubborn over demands that the Syrian leader, President Bashar al-Assad, step down at the end of the peace process.
  • (13) As long as Israel refuses to cease settlement activities and to the release of the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with our agreements, they leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continuously violates them,” Abbas said.
  • (14) But he insisted that there had to be “proper succession planning” before he would relinquish the leadership.
  • (15) Both a voter and Cooper repeatedly asked him if he stood by his comments in the last Republican presidential debate when he insisted that was the case.
  • (16) Cable, once a leading critic of City speculation, insists the shares will go to responsible investors.
  • (17) Protesting naked, as Femen's slogans insist, is liberté , a reappropriation of their own bodies as opposed to pornography or snatched photographs which are exploitation.
  • (18) Greece sincerely had no intention of clashing with its partners, Varoufakis insisted, but the logic of austerity was such that policies conducted in its embrace could only fail.
  • (19) In what appeared to be pointed criticism of increasingly firm rhetoric from Cameron on multinational tax engineering, Carr insisted tax avoidance "cannot be about morality – there are no absolutes".
  • (20) A doctor the Guardian later speaks to insists it makes no sense.

Persist


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To stand firm; to be fixed and unmoved; to stay; to continue steadfastly; especially, to continue fixed in a course of conduct against opposing motives; to persevere; -- sometimes conveying an unfavorable notion, as of doggedness or obstinacy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Without medication atypical ventricular tachycardia develops, in the author's opinion, most probably when bradycardia has persisted for a prolonged period.
  • (2) If the method was taken into routine use in a diagnostic laboratory, the persistence of reverse passive haemagglutination reactions would enable grouping results to be checked for quality control purposes.
  • (3) We considered the days of the disease and the persistence of symptoms since the admission as peculiar parameters between the two groups.
  • (4) The remaining case had a calibre persistent submucosal artery within the caecum that was found incidentally in a resection specimen.
  • (5) The difference in HDL and HDL2 cholesterol concentrations between the MI+ and MI- groups or between the MI+ and CHD- groups persisted after adjustment by analysis of covariance for the effect of physical activity, alcohol intake, obesity, duration of diabetes, and glycemic control.
  • (6) Since the advance and return of sperm inside the tubes could facilitate the interaction of sperm with secretions participating in its maturation, the persistent infertility after vasectomy could be related to the contractile alteration that follows the excessive tubal distention.
  • (7) An experimental Anaplasma marginale infection was induced in a splenectomized mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) which persisted subclinically at least 376 days as detected by subinoculation into susceptible cattle.
  • (8) TR was classified as follows: severe (massive systolic opacification and persistence of the microbubbles in the IVC for at least 20 seconds); moderate (moderate systolic opacification lasting less than 20 seconds); mild (slight systolic opacification lasting less than 10 seconds); insignificant TR (sporadic appearance of the contrast medium into the IVC).
  • (9) They had learned through hard experience what Frederick Douglass once taught -- that freedom is not given, it must be won, through struggle and discipline, persistence and faith.
  • (10) Short incubations with heparin (5 min) caused a release of the enzyme into the media, while longer incubations caused a 2-8-fold increase in net lipoprotein lipase secretion which was maximal after 2-16 h depending on cell type, and persisted for 24 h. The effect of heparin was dose-dependent and specific (it was not duplicated by other glycosaminoglycans).
  • (11) The first patient, an 82-year-old woman, developed a WPW syndrome suggesting posterior right ventricular preexcitation, a pattern which persisted for four months until her death.
  • (12) But not only did it post a larger loss than expected, Amazon also projected 7% to 18% revenue growth over the busiest shopping period of the year, a far cry from the 20%-plus pace that had convinced investors to overlook its persistent lack of profit in the past.
  • (13) Channel activation persists through the process of platelet isolation and washing and is manifested in higher measured values of [Ca2+]cyt and [Ca2+]dt in the "resting state."
  • (14) Gastro-intestinal surgery is only indicated if haemorrhage persists after a period of observation.
  • (15) Psychiatric morbidity is further increased when adjuvant chemotherapy is used and when treatment results in persistent arm pain and swelling.
  • (16) A newborn presenting with persistent umbilical stump bleeding should be screened for factor XIII deficiency when routine coagulation tests prove normal.
  • (17) This competence persists over the eight measurement points.
  • (18) To investigate the possibility that an abnormality of gastric emptying exists in duodenal ulcer and to determine if such an abnormality persists after ulcer healing, scintigraphic gastric emptying measurements were undertaken in 16 duodenal ulcer patients before, during, and after therapy with cimetidine; in 12 patients with pernicious anemia, and in 12 control subjects.
  • (19) Thus it appears that a portion of the adaptation to prolonged and intense endurance training that is responsible for the higher lactate threshold in the trained state persists for a long time (greater than 85 days) after training is stopped.
  • (20) persisted and was more abnormal in 23% of the cases including specific tracings in 37%.