n. [ OE. appetit, F. appétit, fr. L. appetitus, fr. appetere to strive after, long for; ad + petere to seek. See Petition, and cf. Appetence. ] 1. The desire for some personal gratification, either of the body or of the mind. [ 1913 Webster ]

The object of appetite it whatsoever sensible good may be wished for; the object of will is that good which reason does lead us to seek. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Desire for, or relish of, food or drink; hunger. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men must have appetite before they will eat. Buckle. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any strong desire; an eagerness or longing. [ 1913 Webster ]

It God had given to eagles an appetite to swim. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

To gratify the vulgar appetite for the marvelous. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Tendency; appetency. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In all bodies there as an appetite of union. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The thing desired. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Power being the natural appetite of princes. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In old authors, appetite is followed by to or of, but regularly it should be followed by for before the object; as, an appetite for pleasure. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Craving; longing; desire; appetency; passion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. appetitio: cf. F. appétition. ] Desire; a longing for, or seeking after, something. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. appétitif. ] Having the quality of desiring gratification; as, appetitive power or faculty. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. competition. See Compete. ] The act of seeking, or endeavoring to gain, what another is endeavoring to gain at the same time; common strife for the same objects; strife for superiority; emulous contest; rivalry, as for approbation, for a prize, or as where two or more persons are engaged in the same business and each seeking patronage; -- followed by for before the object sought, and with before the person or thing competed with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Competition to the crown there is none, nor can be. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

A portrait, with which one of Titian's could not come in competition. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is no competition but for the second place. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Where competition does not act at all there is complete monopoly. A. T. Hadley.

Syn. -- Emulation; rivalry; rivalship; contest; struggle; contention; opposition; jealousy. See Emulation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to competition; producing competition; competitory; as, a competitive examination. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an agressive willingness to compete.
Syn. -- fight. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L.: cf. F. compétiteur. ] 1. One who seeks what another seeks, or claims what another claims; one who competes; a rival. [ 1913 Webster ]

And can not brook competitors in love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An associate; a confederate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Every hour more competitors
Flock to their aid, and still their power increaseth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Acting in competition; competing; rival. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A woman who competes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] A competitress. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. See Petty. ] Small; little; insignificant; mean; -- Same as Petty. [ Obs., except in legal language. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

By what small, petit hints does the mind catch hold of and recover a vanishing notion. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Petit constable, an inferior civil officer, subordinate to the high constable. --
Petit jury, a jury of twelve men, impaneled to try causes at the bar of a court; -- so called in distinction from the grand jury. --
Petit larceny, the stealing of goods of, or under, a certain specified small value; -- opposed to grand larceny. The distinction is abolished in England. --
Petit maître [ F., lit., little master. ] A fop; a coxcomb; a ladies' man. Goldsmith. --
Petit serjeanty (Eng. Law), the tenure of lands of the crown, by the service of rendering annually some implement of war, as a bow, an arrow, a sword, a flag, etc. --
Petit treason, formerly, in England, the crime of killing a person to whom the offender owed duty or subjection, as one's husband, master, mistress, etc. The crime is now not distinguished from murder. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖a. [ F., fem. of petit. ] Small, little; -- used especially of a woman or girl, of small size and trim figure; as, her petite figure.
Syn. -- bantam, diminutive, lilliputian, midget, tiny. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F., fem. of petit. ] 1. A size category of women's clothing, for women with less than average height. [ PJC ]

2. An aricle of women's clothing classified in the petite{ 1 } size category. [ PJC ]

3. A girl or woman whose figure is best fit by a petite{ 1 } garment. [ PJC ]

n. (Rhetoric, Logic) The fallacy of assuming the conclusion in the premises; begging the question.
Syn. -- petitio principii. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. pétition, L. petitio, fr. petere, petitum, to beg, ask, seek; perh. akin to E. feather, or find. ] 1. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

A house of prayer and petition for thy people. 1 Macc. vii. 37. [ 1913 Webster ]

This last petition heard of all her prayer. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A formal written request addressed to an official person, or to an organized body, having power to grant it. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. 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. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

4. The written document containing a petition (senses 1 or 2). [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

You have . . . petitioned all the gods for my prosperity. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To make a petition or solicitation. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By way of begging the question; by an assumption. [ R. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Supplicatory; making a petition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pardon Rome, and any petitionary countrymen. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Containing a petition; of the nature of a petition; as, a petitionary epistle. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person cited to answer, or defend against, a petition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who presents a petition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of presenting apetition; a supplication. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ F., lit., little sickness. ] (Med.) The mildest form of epilepsy, with momentary faintness or unconsciousness, but without convulsions; -- opposed to grand mal. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L., fr. petere to seek. ] One who seeks or asks; a seeker; an applicant. [ R. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. petitorius, fr. petere, petitum, to beg, ask: cf. F. pétitore. ] Petitioning; soliciting; supplicating. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Petitory suit or
Petitory action (Admiralty Law), a suit in which the mere title to property is litigated and sought to be enforced, as distinguished from a possessory suit; also (Scots Law), a suit wherein the plaintiff claims something as due him by the defendant. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. repetitio: cf. F. répétition. See Repeat. ] 1. The act of repeating; a doing or saying again; iteration. [ 1913 Webster ]

I need not be barren of accusations; he hath faults, with surplus to tire in repetition. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Recital from memory; rehearsal. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) The act of repeating, singing, or playing, the same piece or part a second time; reiteration of a note. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Rhet.) Reiteration, or repeating the same word, or the same sense in different words, for the purpose of making a deeper impression on the audience. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Astron. & Surv.) The measurement of an angle by successive observations with a repeating instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Iteration; rehearsal. See Tautology. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , a. Of the nature of, or containing, repetition. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who repeats. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Repeating; containing repetition. [ U.S. ] Dr. T. Dwight. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Containing repetition; repeating. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Cf. L. repetitor a reclaimer. ] (Ger.Univ.) A private instructor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Repetition of one's self or of one's acts; the saying or doing what one has already said or done. [ 1913 Webster ]

See abolishable.
See absolvable.
See absurd.
See abundant.
See accordant.
See adoptable.
See adventurous.
See affable.
See affectionate.
See afraid.
See alliable.
See allowable.
See alterable.
See ambiguous.
See ambitious.
See amendable.
See -American.
See amusive.
See angular.
See anxious.
See apocryphal.
See apostolic.
See apparent.
See appeasable.
See applausive.
See appreciable.
See apprehensible.
See apprehensive.
See approachable.
See artificial.
See artistic.
See assailable.
See attainable.
See attentive.
See authentic.
See available.
See bailable.
See bearable.
See beautiful.
See beliefful.
See believable.
See beneficial.
See benevolent.
See blamable.
See blemishable.
See blissful.
See boastful.
See bold.
See bookish.
See bounteous.
See bribable.
See brotherly.
See burdensome.
See businesslike.
See busy.
See candid.
See canonical.
See captious.
See careful.
See celestial.
See ceremonious.
See challengeable.
See changeable.
See chary.
See chastisable.
See cheerful.
See cheery.
See childish.
See chivalrous.
See choleric.
See christianlike.
See circumspect.
See civic.
See classible.
See classic.
See classical.
See cleanly.
See clear.
See clerical.
See clerklike.
See close.
See cloudy.
See clubbable.
See coagulable.
See cogitable.
See collectible.
See comic.
See commendable.
See commercial.
See communicable.
See communicative.
See compact.
See companionable.
See compassionate.
See compellable.
See competitive.
See complaisant.
See compliant. See complimentary.
See concealable.
See concurrent.
See conditionate.
See confinable.
See confutable.
See congealable.
See congenial.
See conjugal.
See conjunctive.
See conquerable.
See consecrate.
See containable.
See contaminate.
See contradictable.
See contrite.
See convenable.
See conventional.
See conversable.
See conversant.
See convertible.
See coquettish.
See cordial.
See corpulent.
See correspondent.
See corruptible.
See corruptive.
See costly.
See counselable.
See countable.
See counterfeit.
See courteous.
See courtierlike.
See courtly.
See crafty.
See creatable.
See critical.
See crystalline.
See cultivable.
See curious.
See customary.
See dangerous.
See daughterly.
See dead.
See deceivable.
See decidable.
See decipherable.
See declinable.
See decomposable.
See definable.
See delectable.
See deliberate.
See delightful.
See deliverable.
See democratic.
See demonstrable.
See demonstrative.
See deniable.
See derogatory.
See descendible.
See describable.
See desirable.
See desirous.
See despondent.
See devout.
See diaphanous.
See diligent.
See diminishable.
See discernible.
See disciplinable.
See discordant.
See discoverable.
See dissolvable.
See distinguishable.
See dividable.
See divine.
See domestic.
See doubtful.
[ 1913 Webster ]