Be*seech" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Besought (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n.
Beseeching.] [OE. bisechen, biseken (akin to G.
besuchen to visit); pref. be- + sechen, seken,
to seek. See Seek.] 1. To ask or entreat with
urgency; to supplicate; to implore.
I beseech you, punish me not with your hard
thoughts.
Shak.
But Eve . . . besought his peace.
Milton.
Syn. -- To beg; to crave. -- To Beseech, Entreat,
Solicit, Implore, Supplicate. These words agree in
marking that sense of want which leads men to beg some favor. To
solicit is to make a request, with some degree of earnestness and
repetition, of one whom we address as a superior. To entreat implies
greater urgency, usually enforced by adducing reasons or arguments. To
beseech is still stronger, and belongs rather to the language of
poetry and imagination. To implore denotes increased fervor of
entreaty, as addressed either to equals or superiors. To supplicate
expresses the extreme of entreaty, and usually implies a state of deep
humiliation. Thus, a captive supplicates a conqueror to spare his
life. Men solicit by virtue of their interest with another; they
entreat in the use of reasoning and strong representations; they
beseech with importunate earnestness; they implore from a
sense of overwhelming distress; they supplicate with a feeling of
the most absolute inferiority and dependence.
Be*seech", n. Solicitation;
supplication. [Obs. or Poetic] Shak.
