Part 62
7. Skillful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; art; stratagem; artifice; plot; -- usually in a bad sense. [Obs.] Bacon.
He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer.
Sir P. Sidney.
8. (Math.) A easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.
9. (Law) The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts. Bouvier.
Syn. -- Custom; usage; habit; manner.
Prac"tice (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Practiced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Practicing (?).] [Often written practise, practised, practising.] 1. To do or perform frequently, customarily, or habitually; to make a practice of; as, to practice gaming. "Incline not my heart . . . practice wicked works." Ps. cxli. 4.
2. To exercise, or follow, as a profession, trade, art, etc., as, to practice law or medicine.
2. To exercise one's self in, for instruction or improvement, or to acquire discipline or dexterity; as, to practice gunnery; to practice music.
4. To put into practice; to carry out; to act upon; to commit; to execute; to do. "Aught but Talbot's shadow whereon to practice your severity." Shak.
As this advice ye practice or neglect.
Pope.
5. To make use of; to employ. [Obs.]
In malice to this good knight's wife, I practiced Ubaldo and Ricardo to corrupt her.
Massinger.
6. To teach or accustom by practice; to train.
In church they are taught to love God; after church they are practiced to love their neighbor.
Landor.
Prac"tice, v. i. [Often written practise.] 1. To perform certain acts frequently or customarily, either for instruction, profit, or amusement; as, to practice with the broadsword or with the rifle; to practice on the piano.
2. To learn by practice; to form a habit.
They shall practice how to live secure.
Milton.
Practice first over yourself to reign.
Waller.
3. To try artifices or stratagems.
He will practice against thee by poison.
Shak.
4. To apply theoretical science or knowledge, esp. by way of experiment; to exercise or pursue an employment or profession, esp. that of medicine or of law.
[I am] little inclined to practice on others, and as little that others should practice on me.
Sir W. Temple.
Prac"ticed (?), a. [Often written practised.] 1. Experienced; expert; skilled; as, a practiced marksman. "A practiced picklock." Ld. Lytton.
2. Used habitually; learned by practice.
Prac"ti*cer (?), n. [Often written practiser.] 1. One who practices, or puts in practice; one who customarily performs certain acts. South.
2. One who exercises a profession; a practitioner.
3. One who uses art or stratagem. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Prac*ti"cian (?), n. [F. praticien, OF. also practicien.] One who is acquainted with, or skilled in, anything by practice; a practitioner.
Prac"tick (?), n. Practice. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Prac"ti*sant (?), n. An agent or confederate in treachery. [Obs.] Shak.
Prac"tise (?), v. t. & i. See Practice.
The analogy of the English language requires that the noun and verb which are pronounced alike should agree in spelling. Thus we have notice (n. & v.), noticed, noticing, noticer; poultice (n. & v.); apprentice (n. & v.); office (n. & v.), officer (n.); lattice (n.), latticed (a.); benefice (n.), beneficed (a.), etc. Cf. sacrifice (&?;; n. & v.), surmise (&?;; n. & v.), promise (&?;; n. & v.); compromise (&?;; n. & v.), etc. Contrast advice (&?;; n.), and advise (&?;); device (&?;), and devise (&?;), etc.
Prac"ti*sour (?), n. A practitioner. [Obs.]
Prac*ti"tion*er (?), n. [From Practician.] 1. One who is engaged in the actual use or exercise of any art or profession, particularly that of law or medicine. Crabbe.
2. One who does anything customarily or habitually.
3. A sly or artful person. Whitgift.
General practitioner. See under General, 2.
Prac"tive (?), a. Doing; active. [Obs.] Sylvester. -- Prac"tive*ly, adv. [Obs.]
The preacher and the people both, Then practively did thrive.
Warner.
Prad (?), n. [Cf. D. paard.] A horse. [Colloq. Eng.]
PrÊ- (?). A prefix. See Pre-.
||PrÊ"ca`va (?), n. [NL. See Pre-, and 1st Cave.] (Anat.) The superior ||vena cava. -- PrÊ"ca`val (#), a. B. G. Wilder.
PrÊc"i*pe (?), n. [L., imperative of praecipere to give rules or precepts. See Precept.] (Law) (a) A writ commanding something to be done, or requiring a reason for neglecting it. (b) A paper containing the particulars of a writ, lodged in the office out of which the writ is to be issued. Wharton.
||PrÊ"co*ces (?), n. pl. [NL. See Precocious.] (Zoˆl.) A division of ||birds including those whose young are able to run about when first ||hatched.
PrÊ*co"cial (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to the PrÊcoces.
||PrÊ*cog"ni*ta (?), n. pl. [L. praecognitus, p. p. of praecognoscere ||to foreknow. See Pre-, and Cognition.] This previously known, or ||which should be known in order to understand something else.
PrÊ*com"mis*sure (?), n. [Pref. prÊ + commissure.] (Anat.) A transverse commissure in the anterior part of the third ventricle of the brain; the anterior cerebral commissure.
PrÊ*cor"a*coid (?), n. (Anat.) See Precoracoid.
||PrÊ*cor"di*a (?), n. [L., fr. prae before + cor, cordis, the heart.] ||(Anat.) The front part of the thoracic region; the epigastrium.
PrÊ*cor"di*al (?), a. (Anat.) Same as Precordial.
||PrÊ*cor"nu (?), n.; pl. PrÊcornua (#). [NL. See Pre-, and Cornu.] ||(Anat.) The anterior horn of each lateral ventricle of the brain. B. ||G. Wilder.
PrÊ"di*al (?), a. See Predial.
PrÊ`flo*ra"tion (?), n. Same as Prefloration. Gray.
<! p. 1124 !>
PrÊ*fo`li*a"tion (?), n. Same as Prefoliation. Gray.
PrÊ`max*il"la (?), n. See Premaxilla.
PrÊ*mo"lar (?), a. See Premolar.
PrÊ*morse" (?), a. Same as Premorse.
||PrÊm`u*ni"re (?), n. [Corrupted from L. praemonere to forewarn, cite. ||See Admonish.] (Eng. Law) (a) The offense of introducing foreign ||authority into England, the penalties for which were originally ||intended to depress the civil power of the pope in the kingdom. (b) ||The writ grounded on that offense. Wharton. (c) The penalty ascribed ||for the offense of prÊmunire.
Wolsey incurred a prÊmunire, and forfeited his honor, estate, and life.
South.
The penalties of prÊmunire were subsequently applied to many other offenses; but prosecutions upon a prÊmunire are at this day unheard of in the English courts. Blackstone.
PrÊm`u*ni"re, v. t. 1. To subject to the penalties of prÊmunire. [Obs.] T. Ward.
PrÊ*mu"ni*to*ry (?), a. See Premunitory.
||PrÊ*na"res (?), n. pl. [NL. See Pre-, Nares.] (Anat.) The anterior ||nares. See Nares. B. G. Wilder.
PrÊ*na"sal (?), a. (Anat.) Same as Prenasal.
PrÊ*no"men (?), n.; pl. PrÊnomina (#). [L., fr. prae before + nomen name.] (Rom. Antiq.) The first name of a person, by which individuals of the same family were distinguished, answering to our Christian name, as Caius, Lucius, Marcus, etc.
PrÊ`no*min"ic*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to a prÊnomen. [Obs.] M. A. Lower.
PrÊ`o*per"cu*lum, n. [NL.] (Anat.) Same as Preoperculum. -- PrÊ`o*per"cu*lar, a.
PrÊ*o"ral, n., PrÊ*pu"bis, n., PrÊ*scap"u*la, n., PrÊ*scu"tum, n., PrÊ*ster"num, n. Same as Preoral, Prepubis, Prescapula, etc.
PrÊ"ter- (?). A prefix. See Preter- .
PrÊt"er*ist (?), n. (Theol.) See Preterist.
PrÊ`ter*mit" (?), v. t. See Pretermit.
PrÊ*tex"ta (?), n.; pl. PrÊtextÊ (#), E. PrÊtextas (#). [L. (sc. toga), fr. praetextus, p. p. of praetexere to weave before, to fringe, border; prae before + texere to weave.] (Rom. Antiq.) A white robe with a purple border, worn by a Roman boy before he was entitled to wear the toga virilis, or until about the completion of his fourteenth year, and by girls until their marriage. It was also worn by magistrates and priests.
PrÊ"tor (?), n. See Pretor.
||PrÊ*to"res (?), n. pl. [NL. See Pretor.] (Zoˆl.) A division of ||butterflies including the satyrs.
PrÊ*to"ri*an (?), a. See Pretorian.
PrÊ*to"ri*um (?), n. See Pretorium.
||PrÊ*zyg`a*poph"y*sis (?), n. (Anat.) Same as Prezygapophysis.
{ Prag*mat"ic (?), Prag*mat"ic*al (?), } a. [L. pragmaticus busy,
## active, skilled in business, especially in law and state affairs,
systematic, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; a thing done, business, fr. &?; to do: cf. F. pragmatique. See Practical.] 1. Of or pertaining to business or to affairs; of the nature of business; practical; material; businesslike in habit or manner.
The next day . . . I began to be very pragmatical.
Evelyn.
We can not always be contemplative, diligent, or pragmatical, abroad; but have need of some delightful intermissions.
Milton.
Low, pragmatical, earthly views of the gospel.
Hare.
2. Busy; specifically, busy in an objectionable way; officious; fussy and positive; meddlesome. "Pragmatical officers of justice." Sir W. Scott.
The fellow grew so pragmatical that he took upon him the government of my whole family.
Arbuthnot.
3. Philosophical; dealing with causes, reasons, and effects, rather than with details and circumstances; -- said of literature. "Pragmatic history." Sir W. Hamilton. "Pragmatic poetry." M. Arnold.
Pragmatic sanction, a solemn ordinance or decree issued by the head or legislature of a state upon weighty matters; -- a term derived from the Byzantine empire. In European history, two decrees under this name are
## particularly celebrated. One of these, issued by Charles VII. of
France, A. D. 1438, was the foundation of the liberties of the Gallican church; the other, issued by Charles VI. of Germany, A. D. 1724, settled his hereditary dominions on his eldest daughter, the Archduchess Maria Theresa.
Prag*mat"ic, n. 1. One skilled in affairs.
My attorney and solicitor too; a fine pragmatic.
B. Jonson.
2. A solemn public ordinance or decree.
A royal pragmatic was accordingly passed.
Prescott.
Prag*mat"ic*al*ly (?), adv. In a pragmatical manner.
Prag*mat"ic*al*ness, n. The quality or state of being pragmatical.
Prag"ma*tism (?), n. The quality or state of being pragmatic; in literature, the pragmatic, or philosophical, method.
The narration of this apparently trifling circumstance belongs to the pragmatism of the history.
A. Murphy.
Prag"ma*tist (?), n. One who is pragmatic.
Prag"ma*tize (?), v. t. To consider, represent, or embody (something unreal) as fact; to materialize. [R.] "A pragmatized metaphor." Tylor.
||Prai`ri`al" (?), n. [F., fr. prairie meadow.] The ninth month of the ||French Republican calendar, which dated from September 22, 1792. It ||began May, 20, and ended June 18. See Vendemiaire.
Prai"rie (?), n. [F., an extensive meadow, OF. praerie, LL. prataria, fr. L. pratum a meadow.] 1. An extensive tract of level or rolling land, destitute of trees, covered with coarse grass, and usually characterized by a deep, fertile soil. They abound throughout the Mississippi valley, between the Alleghanies and the Rocky mountains.
From the forests and the prairies, From the great lakes of the northland.
Longfellow.
2. A meadow or tract of grass; especially, a so called natural meadow.
Prairie chicken (Zoˆl.), any American grouse of the genus Tympanuchus, especially T. Americanus (formerly T. cupido), which inhabits the prairies of the central United States. Applied also to the sharp- tailed grouse. -- Prairie clover (Bot.), any plant of the leguminous genus Petalostemon, having small rosy or white flowers in dense terminal heads or spikes. Several species occur in the prairies of the United States. -- Prairie dock (Bot.), a coarse composite plant (Silphium terebinthaceum) with large rough leaves and yellow flowers, found in the Western prairies. -- Prairie dog (Zoˆl.), a small American rodent (Cynomys Ludovicianus) allied to the marmots. It inhabits the plains west of the Mississippi. The prairie dogs burrow in the ground in large warrens, and have a sharp bark like that of a dog. Called also prairie marmot. -- Prairie grouse. Same as Prairie chicken, above. -- Prairie hare (Zoˆl.), a large long-eared Western hare (Lepus campestris). See Jack rabbit, under 2d Jack. -- Prairie hawk, Prairie falcon (Zoˆl.), a falcon of Western North America (Falco Mexicanus). The upper parts are brown. The tail has transverse bands of white; the under parts, longitudinal streaks and spots of brown. -- Prairie hen. (Zoˆl.) Same as Prairie chicken, above. -- Prairie itch (Med.), an affection of the skin attended with intense itching, which is observed in the Northern and Western United States; -- also called swamp itch, winter itch. -- Prairie marmot. (Zoˆl.) Same as Prairie dog, above. -- Prairie mole (Zoˆl.), a large American mole (Scalops argentatus), native of the Western prairies. -- Prairie pigeon, plover, or snipe (Zoˆl.), the upland plover. See Plover, n., 2. -- Prairie rattlesnake (Zoˆl.), the massasauga. -- Prairie snake (Zoˆl.), a large harmless American snake (Masticophis flavigularis). It is pale yellow, tinged with brown above. -- Prairie squirrel (Zoˆl.), any American ground squirrel of the genus Spermophilus, inhabiting prairies; -- called also gopher. -- Prairie turnip (Bot.), the edible turnip-shaped farinaceous root of a leguminous plant (Psoralea esculenta) of the Upper Missouri region; also, the plant itself. Called also pomme blanche, and pomme de prairie. -- Prairie warbler (Zoˆl.), a bright-colored American warbler (Dendroica discolor). The back is olive yellow, with a group of reddish spots in the middle; the under parts and the parts around the eyes are bright yellow; the sides of the throat and spots along the sides, black; three outer tail feathers partly white. -- Prairie wolf. (Zoˆl.) See Coyote.
Prais"a*ble (?), a. Fit to be praised; praise-worthy; laudable; commendable. Wyclif (2 Tim. ii. 15).
Prais"a*bly, adv. In a praisable manner.
Praise (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Praised (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Praising.] [OE. preisen, OF. preisier, prisier, F. priser, L. pretiare to prize, fr. pretium price. See Price, n., and cf. Appreciate, Praise, n., Prize, v.] 1. To commend; to applaud; to express approbation of; to laud; -- applied to a person or his acts. "I praise well thy wit." Chaucer.
Let her own works praise her in the gates.
Prov. xxxi. 31.
We praise not Hector, though his name, we know, Is great in arms; 't is hard to praise a foe.
Dryden.
2. To extol in words or song; to magnify; to glorify on account of perfections or excellent works; to do honor to; to display the excellence of; -- applied especially to the Divine Being.
Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye him, all his hosts!
Ps. cxlviii. 2.
3. To value; to appraise. [Obs.] Piers Plowman.
Syn. -- To commend; laud; eulogize; celebrate; glorify; magnify. -- To Praise, Applaud, Extol. To praise is to set at high price; to applaud is to greet with clapping; to extol is to bear aloft, to exalt. We may praise in the exercise of calm judgment; we usually applaud from impulse, and on account of some specific act; we extol under the influence of high admiration, and usually in strong, if not extravagant, language.
Praise, n. [OE. preis, OF. preis price, worth, value, estimation. See Praise, v., Price.] 1. Commendation for worth; approval expressed; honor rendered because of excellence or worth; laudation; approbation.
There are men who always confound the praise of goodness with the practice.
Rambler.
Praise may be expressed by an individual, and thus differs from fame, renown, and celebrity, which are always the expression of the approbation of numbers, or public commendation.
2. Especially, the joyful tribute of gratitude or homage rendered to the Divine Being; the act of glorifying or extolling the Creator; worship, particularly worship by song, distinction from prayer and other acts of worship; as, a service of praise.
3. The object, ground, or reason of praise.
He is thy praise, and he is thy God.
Deut. x.&?;&?;.
Syn. -- Encomium; honor; eulogy; panegyric; plaudit; applause; acclaim; eclat; commendation; laudation.
Praise"ful (?), a. Praiseworthy. [Obs.]
Praise"ful (?), a. Praiseworthy. [Obs.]
Praise"less, a. Without praise or approbation.
Praise"-meet`*ing (?), n. A religious service mainly in song. [Local, U. S.]
Praise"ment (?), n. Appraisement. [Obs.]
Prais"er (?), n. 1. One who praises. "Praisers of men." Sir P. Sidney.
2. An appraiser; a valuator. [Obs.] Sir T. North.
Praise"wor`thi*ly (?), adv. In a praiseworthy manner. Spenser.
Praise"wor`thi*ness, n. The quality or state of being praiseworthy.
Praise"wor`thy (?), a. Worthy of praise or applause; commendable; as, praiseworthy action; he was praiseworthy. Arbuthnot.
Pra"krit (?), n. [Skr. prkta original, natural, usual, common, vulgar.] Any one of the popular dialects descended from, or akin to, Sanskrit; -- in distinction from the Sanskrit, which was used as a literary and learned language when no longer spoken by the people. Pali is one of the Prakrit dialects.
Pra*krit"ic (?), a. Pertaining to Prakrit.
{ Pram (?), Prame (?) }, n. (Naut.) See Praam.
Prance (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Pranced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Prancing (?).] [OE. prauncen; probably akin to prank, v. t. See Prank.] 1. To spring or bound, as a horse in high mettle.
Now rule thy prancing steed.
Gay.
2. To ride on a prancing horse; to ride in an ostentatious manner.
The insulting tyrant prancing o'er the field.
Addison.
3. To walk or strut about in a pompous, showy manner, or with warlike parade. Swift.
Pran"cer (?), n. A horse which prances.
Then came the captain . . . upon a brave prancer.
Evelyn.
Pran"di*al (?), a. [L. prandium a repast.] Of or pertaining to a repast, especially to dinner.
||Pran"gos (?), n. [From the native name in Afghanistan.] (Bot.) A ||genus of umbelliferous plants, one species of which (P. pabularia), ||found in Thibet, Cashmere, Afghanistan, etc., has been used as fodder ||for cattle. It has decompound leaves with very long narrow divisions, ||and a highly fragrant smell resembling that of new clover hay.
Prank (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pranked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Pranking.] [Cf. E. prink, also G. prangen, prunken, to shine, to make a show, Dan. prange, prunke, Sw. prunka, D. pronken.] To adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously; -- often followed by up; as, to prank up the body. See Prink.
In sumptuous tire she joyed herself to prank.
Spenser.
Prank, v. i. To make ostentatious show.
White houses prank where once were huts.
M. Arnold.
Prank, n. A gay or sportive action; a ludicrous, merry, or mischievous trick; a caper; a frolic. Spenser.
The harpies . . . played their accustomed pranks.
Sir W. Raleigh.
His pranks have been too broad to bear with.
Shak.
Prank, a. Full of gambols or tricks. [Obs.]
Prank"er (?), n. One who dresses showily; a prinker. "A pranker or a dancer." Burton.
Prank"ish, a. Full of pranks; frolicsome.
Prase (?), n. [L. prasius, fr. Gr. &?; of a leek-green, fr. Gr. &?; a leek: cf. F. prase.] (Min.) A variety of cryptocrystalline of a leek-green color.
Pra"se*o- (?). [Gr. &?; leek-green, green, fr. &?; a leek.] A combining form signifying green; as, praseocobalt, a green variety of cobalt.
Pra`se*o*dym"i*um (?), n. [Praseo- + didymium.] (Chem.) An elementary substance, one of the constituents of didymium; -- so called from the green color of its salts. Symbol Ps. Atomic weight 143.6.
Pra"se*o*lite (?), n. [Praseo- + -lite.] (Min.) A variety of altered iolite of a green color and greasy luster.
Pras"i*nous (?), a. [L. prasinus, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; a leek.] Grass-green; clear, lively green, without any mixture. Lindley.
Pra"soid (?), a. [Gr. &?; leek + - oid.] (Min.) Resembling prase.
Prate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prated; p. pr. & vb. n. Prating.] [Akin to LG. & D. praten, Dan. prate, Sw. & Icel. prata.] To talk much and to little purpose; to be loquacious; to speak foolishly; to babble.
To prate and talk for life and honor.
Shak.
And make a fool presume to prate of love.
Dryden.
Prate, v. t. To utter foolishly; to speak without reason or purpose; to chatter, or babble.
What nonsense would the fool, thy master, prate, When thou, his knave, canst talk at such a rate !
Dryden.
Prate, n. [Akin to LG. & D. praat, Sw. prat.] Talk to little purpose; trifling talk; unmeaning loquacity.
Sick of tops, and poetry, and prate.
Pope.
Prate"ful (?), a. Talkative. [R.] W. Taylor.
Prat"er (?), n. One who prates. Shak.
Prat"ic (?), n. See Pratique.
Pra"tin*cole (?), n. (Zoˆl.) Any bird of the Old World genus Glareola, or family GlareolidÊ, allied to the plovers. They have long, pointed wings and a forked tail.
Prat"ing*ly (?), adv. With idle talk; with loquacity.
Prat"ique (?), n. [F.; cf. It. pratica, Sp. practica. See Practice.] 1. (Com.) Primarily, liberty of converse; intercourse; hence, a certificate, given after compliance with quarantine regulations, permitting a ship to land passengers and crew; -- a term used
## particularly in the south of Europe.
<! p. 1125 !>
2. Practice; habits. [Obs.] "One of English education and pratique." R. North.
Prat"tle (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prattled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Prattling (?).] [Freq. of prate.] To talk much and idly; to prate; hence, to talk lightly and artlessly, like a child; to utter child's talk.
Prat"tle, v. t. To utter as prattle; to babble; as, to prattle treason. Addison.
Prat"tle, n. Trifling or childish tattle; empty talk; loquacity on trivial subjects; prate; babble.
Mere prattle, without practice.
Shak.
Prat"tle*ment (?), n. Prattle. [R.] Jeffrey.
Prat"tler (?), n. One who prattles. Herbert.
Prav"i*ty (?), n. [L. pravitas, from pravus crooked, perverse.] Deterioration; degeneracy; corruption; especially, moral crookedness; moral perversion; perverseness; depravity; as, the pravity of human nature. "The pravity of the will." South.
Prawn (?), n. [OE. prane, of unknown origin; cf. L. perna a sea mussel.] (Zoˆl.) Any one of numerous species of large shrimplike Crustacea having slender legs and long antennÊ. They mostly belong to the genera Pandalus, PalÊmon, PalÊmonetes, and Peneus, and are much used as food. The common English prawn is PalÊmon serratus.
The name is often applied to any large shrimp.
Prax*in"o*scope (?), n. [Gr. &?; action + -scope.] (Opt.) An instrument, similar to the phenakistoscope, for presenting to view, or projecting upon a screen, images the natural motions of real objects.
Prax"is (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to do. See Practice.] 1. Use; practice; especially, exercise or discipline for a specific purpose or object. "The praxis and theory of music." Wood.
2. An example or form of exercise, or a collection of such examples, for practice.
Pray (?), n. & v. See Pry. [Obs.] Spenser.
Pray (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prayed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Praying.] [OE. preien, OF. preier, F. prier, L. precari, fr. prex, precis, a prayer, a request; akin to Skr. prach to ask, AS. frignan, frnan, fricgan, G. fragen, Goth. fraÌhnan. Cf. Deprecate, Imprecate, Precarious.] To make request with earnestness or zeal, as for something desired; to make entreaty or supplication; to offer prayer to a deity or divine being as a religious act; specifically, to address the Supreme Being with adoration, confession, supplication, and thanksgiving.
And to his goddess pitously he preyde.
Chaucer.
When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Matt. vi. 6.
I pray, or (by ellipsis) Pray, I beg; I request; I entreat you; -- used in asking a question, making a request, introducing a petition, etc.; as, Pray, allow me to go.
I pray, sir. why am I beaten?
Shak.
Syn. -- To entreat; supplicate; beg; implore; invoke; beseech; petition.
Pray, v. t. 1. To address earnest request to; to supplicate; to entreat; to implore; to beseech.
And as this earl was preyed, so did he.
Chaucer.
We pray you . . . by ye reconciled to God.
2 Cor. v. 20.
2. To ask earnestly for; to seek to obtain by supplication; to entreat for.
I know not how to pray your patience.
Shak.
3. To effect or accomplish by praying; as, to pray a soul out of purgatory. Milman.
To pray in aid. (Law) (a) To call in as a helper one who has an interest in the cause. Bacon. (b) A phrase often used to signify claiming the benefit of an argument. See under Aid. Mozley & W.
Pray"er (?), n. One who prays; a supplicant.