Search the Dictionary

Affording pleasure; pleasing to the senses; gratifying; delicious; as, a grateful present; food grateful to the palate; grateful sleep. Now golden fruits on loaded branches shine, And grateful clusters swell. Pope.

That which affords pleasure; satisfaction; enjoyment; fruition: delight.

To please; to give pleasure to; to satisfy; to soothe; to indulge; as, to gratify the taste, the appetite, the senses, the desires, the mind, etc. For who would die to gratify a foe Dryden.

Good will; favor; pleasure; satisfaction; -- used esp. in such phrases as: to take in gree; to accept in gree; that is, to take favorably. [Obs.] Chaucer. Accept in gree, my lord, the words I spoke. Fairfax.

To seize and hold fast; to embrace closely. Wouldst thou gripe both gain and pleasure Robynson (More's Utopia).

ect object only, or by both the direct and indirect objects. Tis not in thee To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train. Shak. I have often heard the Presbyterians say, they did not grudge us our employments. Swift. They have grudged us contribution. Shak.

The sense or pleasure of tasting; relish; gusto. An ox will relish the tender flesh of kids with as much gust and appetite. Jer. Taylor.

er the Great, who went almost naked, denied themselves the use of flesh, renounced bodily pleasures, and employed themselves in the contemplation of nature.

] That other merchandise that men haunt with fraud . . . is cursed. Chaucer. Leave honest pleasure, and haunt no good pastime. Ascham.

Pertaining to pleasure.

That branch of moral philosophy which treats of the relation of duty to pleasure; the science of practical, positive enjoyment or pleasure. J. Grote.

ethical theory which finds the explanation and authority of duty in its tendency to give pleasure.

To mind; to regard with care; to take notice of; to attend to; to observe. With pleasure Argus the musician heeds. Dryden.

A garden; a pleasure garden. [Obs.] "Into an herber green." Chaucer.

of a hermit; a secluded residence. Some forlorn and naked hermitage, Remote from all the pleasures of the world. Shak.

i. e., full or quite) noon; high (i. e., rich or spicy) seasoning; high (i. e., complete) pleasure; high (i. e., deep or vivid) color; high (i. e., extensive, thorough) scholarship, etc. High time it is this war now ended were. Spenser. High sauces and spices are fetched from the Indies. Baker.

A like appendage to a cloak or loose overcoat, that may be drawn up over the head at pleasure.

of the genus Upupa (U. epops), having a beautiful crest, which it can erect or depress at pleasure. Called also hoop, whoop. The name is also applied to several other species of the same genus and allied genera.

To impar the value, usefulness, beauty, or pleasure of; to damage; to injure; to harm. Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt. Milton.

rmitted or allowed; prohibited; unlawful; as, illicit trade; illicit intercourse; illicit pleasure. One illicit . . . transaction always leads to another. Burke. -- Il*lic"it*ly, adv. -- Il*lic"it*ness, n.