noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A call to witness. rhetoric
2. 2
   A vehement expression of desire, as in "think of the children!" or requests preceded by "for God's sake". rhetoric

Synonyms

All synonyms

adjurationadjuration

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δέησις (déēsis, “entreaty, petition, want”), from δέω (déō, “lack, miss”), δέομαι (déomai, “beg”).

Related phrases

for god's sakethink of children

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.