prayverb
uk/preɪ/us/preɪ/A2 [ I or T ] to speak to a god either privately or in a religious ceremony in order to express love, admiration, or thanks or in order to ask for something:
She knelt and prayed silently.
Let us pray for the victims of this terrible disaster.
[ + that ] We've been praying to God that your son will make a complete recovery.
formal You must pray (= ask for) God's forgiveness for what you have done.
B2 [ I ] to hope for something very much:
We're praying for good weather for tomorrow's game.
More examples
- We pray for deliverance from our sins.
- Let us pray for those who are not so fortunate as ourselves.
- The people all fell to their knees and began to pray.
- We're having the party in the garden, so I'm praying it'll be sunny.
- He knelt in front of the altar and prayed.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Religious ceremonies & prayers
- alleluia
- amen
- anoint
- baptism
- bar mitzvah
- blessing
- burnt offering
- confirm
- confirmation
- consecrate
- creed
- dedicate
- devotion
- incense
- liturgy
- matins
- ordination
- Our Father
- prayer
- sermon
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prayadverb
uk/preɪ/us/preɪ/old use or formala forceful way of saying "please":
Pray tell your sister that I long to see her.
And where have you been, pray tell?
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Polite expressions
- actually
- after
- by all means idiom
- chance
- could
- disrespect
- don't mention it! idiom
- excuse
- forgive
- good
- honour
- might I ask/inquire/know idiom
- no problem idiom
- obliged
- pardon
- perhaps
- place
- pleasure
- suppose
- welcome
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