WordWeb Online

1. Spur on or encourage especially by cheers and shouts
   "The crowd exhorted the demonstrating strikers";
   - cheer, root on [N. Amer, informal], inspire, urge, barrack [Austral, NZ], urge on
    
2. Force or impel in an indicated direction
   "I exhorted him to finish his studies";
   - urge, urge on, press

Derived forms: exhorts, exhorting, exhorted

Type of: advise, counsel, encourage, rede [archaic]