protest
noun /ˈprəʊtɛst 
/
/1A statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something: the British team lodged an official protest [mass noun]: two senior scientists resigned in protest...
- Anyone in their right mind would have stormed out in protest, holding their stomachs.
- In protest, town officials took down their provincial flags.
- In protest, the opposition did not participate in the vote, speaking of fraud and a ‘law of shame.’
Synonyms
objection, exception, complaint, disapproval, disagreement, opposition, challenge, dissent, demurral, remonstration, expostulation, fuss, outcry;
railing, inveighing, fulmination, protestation
1.1An organized public demonstration expressing strong objection to an official policy or course of action: a protest over planned pit closures [as modifier]: a protest march...
- The fact that the public have to resort to demonstrations or angry protests against administration policy show that there is something currently wrong with the relationship.
- People are making their own efforts to organise demonstrations and protest marches.
- The incidences of violent crime are ongoing, and the more horrific ones usually spark some kind of immediate public reaction like a protest or a march.
Synonyms
demonstration, march, protest march, peace camp, rally, sit-in, human chain, occupation, sleep-in, dirty protest, write-in, non-cooperation;
work-to-rule, industrial action, stoppage, strike, walkout, mutiny, picket, boycott;
Indian morcha, gherao, hartal
informal demo
2 Law A written declaration, typically by a notary public, that a bill has been presented and payment or acceptance refused.
verb /prəˈtɛst /
/1 [no object] Express an objection to what someone has said or done: before Muriel could protest, he had filled both glasses...
- To our objections, he protested that he had repeated our order back to us, and this is what we had ordered.
- Is it any wonder that eventually they begin to complain and protest?
- It's as if they know, no matter how much they complain or protest, nothing will change.
Synonyms
express opposition, raise objections, object, make a protest, dissent, take issue, make/take a stand, put up a fight, kick, take exception, complain, express disapproval, disagree, express disagreement, demur, remonstrate, expostulate, make a fuss;
cry out, speak out, rail, inveigh, fulminate;
oppose, challenge, denounce
informal kick up a fuss/stink
1.1Publicly demonstrate strong objection to an official policy or course of action: doctors and patients protested against plans to cut services at the hospital [with object]: North American the workers were protesting economic measures enacted a week earlier...
- Small farmers and health service workers have also repeatedly protested against government policies.
- Thousands of Greek workers protested against the government's economic policies in the city of Thessaloniki on September 10.
- However, his prayers did not avert the famous Morozov strike of 1885, when his 8,000 workers protested against the fines.
Synonyms
demonstrate, march, hold a rally, sit in, form a human chain, occupy somewhere, sleep in, stage a dirty protest, refuse to cooperate;
work to rule, take industrial action, stop work, down tools, strike, go on strike, walk out, mutiny, picket somewhere;
boycott something
2 [reporting verb] Declare (something) firmly and emphatically in response to doubt or accusation: [with direct speech]: ‘I’m not being coy!’ Lucy protested [with object]: she has always protested her innocence...
- He has always protested his innocence, claiming that on the night of the shooting he was with a friend.
- He has consistently protested his innocence and declared he has ‘a full answer’ to them.
- Contemporary dance is constantly called upon to protest its relevance against accusations of complacency and pretentiousness.
Synonyms
insist on, claim, maintain, declare, announce, profess, proclaim, assert, affirm, argue, vow, avow, aver, pledge, swear, swear to, testify to
rare asseverate
3 [with object] Law Write or obtain a protest in regard to (a bill).
Phrases
under protest
Derivatives
protestingly
/ adverb ...- It had been there a lot longer than the Chronicle offices and sometimes protestingly pushed out a gnarled root, rupturing the car park surface, like the finger of a buried monster trying to claw its way out of a tarmac tomb.
- A stiff breeze was coming in great gusts that agitated the bare limbs of trees as though bringing them protestingly to life.
- He takes me behind a tree, where I protestingly pull free of his grip.
Origin
Late Middle English (as a verb in the sense 'make a solemn declaration'): from Old French protester, from Latin protestari, from pro- 'forth, publicly' + testari 'assert' (from testis 'witness').
testicle from Late Middle English:
The ancient Romans felt that a man's testicles testified that he was male. They formed the word testiculus from Latin testis ‘witness’, the source also of attest (late 16th century); detest (Late Middle English) which originally meant to denounce; protest (Late Middle English); testify (Late Middle English); and intestate (Late Middle English) ‘without a witnessed will’. The testicles were the ‘witnesses’ of the man's virility.