as in to beg
to make a request to (someone) in an earnest or urgent manner
I pray you: tell me where they went
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Recent Examples of pray
Please join Susan and me in praying for his family and respecting their privacy during this heartbreaking time.
—
Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 8 July 2025
Others fled to attics inside their homes, praying the water wouldn’t reach them.
—Brit Morse, Fortune, 7 July 2025
Stuart has been coming to the facility each day, not to protest but to pray.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 28 June 2025
Setting out before sunrise, Zhou spent an hour scrambling to the top of a rocky peak, praying that the elusive brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus) would show.
—Skylar Knight, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pray
Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 8 July 2025
Others fled to attics inside their homes, praying the water wouldn’t reach them.
—Brit Morse, Fortune, 7 July 2025
Stuart has been coming to the facility each day, not to protest but to pray.
—Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 28 June 2025
Setting out before sunrise, Zhou spent an hour scrambling to the top of a rocky peak, praying that the elusive brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus) would show.
—Skylar Knight, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pray
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pray
Verb
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When all 16 of her campers and her co-counselors were safely accounted for at the pavilion, Ainslie heard campers from another cabin — one that housed some of the camp’s youngest children — begging for help.—
Toria Sheffield,
People.com,
12 July 2025
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But when Dexter relapsed back into killing and exposed his son to the family trade, the homecoming turned sour and Dexter begged his kid to shoot him–– and Harrison obliged.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
11 July 2025
Verb
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Dodd petitioned local churches, the YMCA and shopkeepers to observe Father's Day – a Mother's Day counterpart that would celebrate dads.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
The Enquirer,
2 July 2025
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Letby's lawyers and three former executives at the hospital unsuccessfully petitioned Thirlwall to halt the public inquiry after the medical panel released its findings.—
BRIAN MELLEY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pray.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pray. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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