resist

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To strive to fend off or offset the actions, effects, or force of.
2. v. To remain firm against the actions, effects, or force of; withstand: a bacterium that resisted the antibiotic.
3. v. To keep from giving in to or enjoying.
4. v. To offer resistance. See Synonyms at oppose.
5. n. A substance that can cover and protect a surface, as from corrosion.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To withstand; oppose passively or actively; antagonize; act against; exert physical or moral force in opposition to.
2. To be disagreeable or distasteful to; offend.
3. Synonyms Withstand, etc. See oppose.
4. To make opposition; act in opposition.
5. n. Any composition applied to a surface to protect it from chemical action, as to enable it to resist the corrosion of acids, etc.
6. n. Specifically, in calico-printing, a sort of paste applied to a fabric to prevent color or mordant from fixing on those parts not intended to be colored, either by acting mechanically in preventing the color, etc., from reaching the cloth, or chemically in changing the color so as to render it incapable of fixing itself in the fibers. Also called resist-paste, resistant, and reserve.
7. n. A stopping-out; also, the material used for stopping out.

Wiktionary

1. v. To attempt to counter the actions or effects of.
2. v. To withstand the actions of.
3. v. To oppose.
4. n. A protective coating or covering. Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed, 1989.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To stand against; to withstand; to obstruct.
2. v. To strive against; to endeavor to counteract, defeat, or frustrate; to act in opposition to; to oppose.
3. v. To counteract, as a force, by inertia or reaction.
4. v. To be distasteful to.
5. v. To make opposition.
6. n. A substance used to prevent a color or mordant from fixing on those parts to which it has been applied, either by acting machanically in preventing the color, etc., from reaching the cloth, or chemically in changing the color so as to render it incapable of fixing itself in the fibers; -- also called reserve. The pastes prepared for this purpose are called resist pastes.
7. n. Something that resists or prevents a certain action A substance applied to a surface, as of metal, or of a silicon wafer, to prevent the action on it of acid, other chemical agents, or any other process such as irradiation or deposition, which would modify the surface if not protected. The resist is usually applied or in some way formed into a pattern so that the underlying surface may be modified in a complementary pattern.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. resist immunologically the introduction of some foreign tissue or organ
2. v. express opposition through action or words
3. v. refuse to comply
4. v. elude, especially in a baffling way
5. v. withstand the force of something
6. v. stand up or offer resistance to somebody or something