resist

verb

1. (transitive)To attempt to counter the actions or effects of.

   “Shepard: You could have resisted. You could have fought! Instead, you surrendered. You quit.”

   “Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.”

2. (transitive)To withstand the actions of.

   “At length, one night, when the company by ſome accident broke up much ſooner than ordinary, ſo that the candles were not half burnt out, ſhe was not able to reſiſt the temptation, but reſolved to have them ſome way or other. Accordingly, as ſoon as the hurry was over, and the ſervants, as ſhe thought, all gone to ſleep, ſhe ſtole out of her bed, and went down ſtairs, naked to her ſhift as ſhe was, with a deſign to ſteal them […]”

   “The preposterous altruism too![…]Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.”

3. (intransitive)To oppose; to refuse to accept.
4. (obsolete, transitive)To be distasteful to.

   “These cates resist me,”

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A protective coating or covering.

   “Keeping the ties loose ensures that the yarn can absorb the dye without creating a resist.”