Definition of 'pray'
Word forms: prays, praying, prayed
1. intransitive verb
When people pray, they speak to God in order to give thanks or to ask for help.
2. transitive verb [usu cont]
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
pray
Word Frequency
pray in American English
verb transitive
2.
to ask for by prayer or supplication; beg for imploringly
3.
to recite (a prayer)
4.
to bring about, get, etc. by praying
verb intransitive
5.
to ask very earnestly; make supplication, as to a deity
6.
to worship God, a god, etc., as by reciting certain set formulas
SIMILAR WORDS: apˈpeal
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME preien < OFr preier < LL precare, for L precari < prex (gen. precis), prayer < IE *pre-, var. of base *per-, question > Ger frage, question
Word Frequency
pray in British English
verb
1. (when intr, often foll by for; when tr, usually takes a clause as object)
we prayed to God for the sick child
2. (when tr, usually takes a clause as object or an infinitive)
she prayed to be allowed to go
leave, I pray you
exclamation
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C13: from Old French preier, from Latin precārī to implore, from prex an entreaty; related to Old English fricgan, Old High German frāgēn to ask, Old Norse fregna to enquire
Examples of 'pray' in a sentence
pray
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In other languages
pray
British English: pray
/preɪ/ VERB
When people pray, they speak to God in order to give thanks or to ask for help.
- American English: pray /ˈpreɪ/
- Arabic: يُصَلِّي
- Brazilian Portuguese: rezar
- Chinese: 祈祷
- Croatian: moliti
- Czech: modlit se
- Danish: bede
- Dutch: bidden
- European Spanish: rezar
- Finnish: rukoilla
- French: prier
- German: beten
- Greek: προσεύχομαι
- Italian: pregare
- Japanese: 祈る
- Korean: 기도하다
- Norwegian: be
- Polish: pomodlić się
- European Portuguese: rezar
- Romanian: a se ruga
- Russian: молиться
- Spanish: rezar
- Swedish: be bön
- Thai: สวดมนต์
- Turkish: dua etmek
- Ukrainian: молитися
- Vietnamese: cầu nguyện
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Definition of pray from the Collins English Dictionary
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