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To have pleasure; to be willing, as a matter of affording pleasure or showing favor; to vouchsafe; to consent. Heavenly stranger, please to taste These bounties. Milton. That he would please 8give me my liberty. Swift.

That which pleases; a favor; a gratification. Shak. Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure Acts xxv. 9. At pleasure, by arbitrary will or choice. Dryden. -- To take pleasure in, to have enjoyment in. Ps. cxlvii. 11.

s which are possessed by the mind or soul; as, the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing, fearing, hoping, etc. I. Watts. The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of my powers, drove the grossness . . . into a received belief. Shak.

Affording entrance; receptive; yielding; willing; open; prompt. [Obs.] " Pregnant to good pity." Shak.

Cheerful willingness; alacrity.

of all; general; common; notorious; as, public report; public scandal. Joseph, . . . not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. Matt. i. 19.

In a rush manner; with precipitation. He that doth anything rashly, must do it willingly; for he was free to deliberate or not. L'Estrange.

More readily or willingly; preferably. My soul chooseth . . . death rather than my life. Job vii. 15.

Without delay or objection; without reluctance; willingly; cheerfully. How readily we wish time spent revoked! Cowper.

The state or quality of being ready; preparation; promptness; aptitude; willingness. They received the word with all readiness of mind. Acts xvii. 11.

Prepared in mind or disposition; not reluctant; willing; free; inclined; disposed. I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus. Acts xxi. 13. If need be, I am ready to forego And quit. Milton.

The state or quality of being reluctant; repugnance; aversion of mind; unwillingness; -- often followed by an infinitive, or by to and a noun, formerly sometimes by against. "Tempering the severity of his looks with a reluctance to the action." Dryden. He had some reluctance to obey the summons. Sir W. Scott. Bear witn…

Striving against; opposed in desire; unwilling; disinclined; loth. Reluctant, but in vain. Milton. Reluctant now I touched the trembling string. Tickell.

To relax in intensity; to make less violent; to abate. So willingly doth God remit his ire. Milton.

sition; contrariety; especially, a strong instinctive antagonism; aversion; reluctance; unwillingness, as of mind, passions, principles, qualities, and the like. That which causes us to lose most of our time is the repugnance which we naturally have to labor. Dryden. Let the foes quietly cut their throats, Without repu…

Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward; stubborn; drawing back. Restive or resty, drawing back, instead of going forward, as some horses do. E. Philips (1658). The people remarked with awe and wonder that the beasts which were to drag him [Abraham Holmes] to the gallows became restive, and went back.…

eceive Thy merited reward. Milton. Rewards and punishments do always presuppose something willingly done well or ill. Hooker.

To get over; to dispose of; to dispatch; to finish. [R.] "Willingness rids way." Shak. Mirth will make us rid ground faster than if thieves were at our tails. J. Webster. To be rid of, to be free or delivered from. -- To get rid of, to get deliverance from; to free one's self from.

or gratifiles; atonement. Die he, or justice must; unless or him Some other, able, and as willing, pay The rigid satisfaction, death for death. Milton.

Hesitation as to action from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; unwillingness, doubt, or hesitation proceeding from motives of conscience. He was made miserable by the conflict between his tastes and his scruples. Macaulay. To make scruple, to hesitate from conscientious motives; to scruple. Lock…