GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 3 definitions

1.       
   Petition , n. [F. pétition, L. petitio, fr. petere, petitum, to beg, ask, seek; perh. akin to E. feather, or find.]
   A prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of a solemn or formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a prayer.
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   A house of prayer and petition for thy people.
   1 Macc. vii. 37.
   
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   This last petition heard of all her prayer.
   Dryden.
   
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   A formal written request addressed to an official person, or to an organized body, having power to grant it.
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   Specifically: (Law), A request to government, in either of its branches, for the granting of a particular grace or right, or for the legislature to take a specific action; -- in distinction from a memorial, which calls certain facts to mind. The petition may be signed by one or any number of persons.
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   PJC
   The written document containing a petition (senses 1 or 2).
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   Petition of right (Law), a petition to obtain possession or restitution of property, either real or personal, from the Crown, which suggests such a title as controverts the title of the Crown, grounded on facts disclosed in the petition itself. Mozley & W. -- The Petition of Right (Eng. Hist.), the parliamentary declaration of the rights of the people, assented to by Charles I.
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2.       
   Petition, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Petitioned ; p. pr. & vb. n. Petitioning.] To make a prayer or request to; to ask from; to solicit; to entreat; especially, to make a formal written supplication, or application to, as to any branch of the government; as, to petition the court; to petition the governor.
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   You have . . . petitioned all the gods for my prosperity.
   Shak.
   
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3.       
   Petition, v. i. To make a petition or solicitation.
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