exhort ig-ˈzȯrt verb
1. spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts
2. force or impel in an indicated direction
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The word exhort has appeared in 121 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on April 13 in the essay “$2 and Some Pancakes Went Far at the 1969 Boston Marathon” by George A. Hirsch:
Boston has four infamous hills between 16 and 21 miles, just where you don’t need them. The last is the dreaded Heartbreak Hill. I trudged up the first three, fearful about Heartbreak just ahead.
Then I was on it, leaning steeply into the slope. Near the top, I heard a police officer on a bullhorn exhorting the runners. Suddenly, he was speaking directly to me: “No. 622, at the crest of the hill, you have five miles to go, and it’s all downhill.”
I’ll never forget his next words: “Your achievement is superb and you have my fullest admiration.”
I knew then that I would finish the Boston Marathon. And tears welled up in my eyes.
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