Library / English Dictionary

PRAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Call upon in supplication; entreat

Example:

I beg you to stop!

Synonyms:

beg; implore; pray

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "pray" is one way to...):

plead (appeal or request earnestly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pray"):

crave (plead or ask for earnestly)

supplicate (ask humbly (for something))

importune; insist (beg persistently and urgently)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They pray to move

Sense 2

Meaning:

Address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer

Example:

pray to the Lord

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "pray" is one way to...):

commune (communicate intimately with; be in a state of heightened, intimate receptivity)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Somebody ----s to somebody

Derivation:

prayer (the act of communicating with a deity (especially as a petition or in adoration or contrition or thanksgiving))

prayer (a fixed text used in praying)

prayer (reverent petition to a deity)

prayer (someone who prays to God)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“And pray what am I charged with?”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I am all astonishment. How long has she been such a favourite?—and pray, when am I to wish you joy?”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

“Oh pray come to me, Julia, do, do!”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“I don’t count. Go on, go on, I pray you.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Now, Thomas, I pray you dispatch, for we have a long ride before us and sun has already set.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“My dear Isabella,”—exclaimed he hastily—“pray do not concern yourself about my looks.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

"Do come now," said he—"pray come—you must come—I declare you shall come—You can't think how you will like them.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Beg him, pray him, get him here by any means.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Pray write to her, if it be only a line.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I pray you to come as soon as may be; and until then I remain him whom you knew as

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)