▪ I. implore, v.
(ɪmˈplɔə(r))
Also 6 Sc. imploir.
[ad. L. implōrāre to invoke or entreat with tears, f. im- (im-1) + plōrāre to weep, lament. Cf. F. implorer (R. Estienne, 1549).]
1. trans. a. To beg or pray for (aid, favour, pardon, etc.) with tearful or touching entreaties; to ask for in supplication; to beseech. † Formerly sometimes with two objects.
| c 1540 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 67 He himselfe imploringe the assistaunce and faithe of Carthumandua. 1563 Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. Wks. 1888 I. 131 Haif we nocht iust cause to imploir the grace of God? 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 152 Hee might plainely discerne her dolorous gesture in the act of imploring his succour. 1654–66 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa (1676) 640 Permit me to implore you the promise that I shall receive no worse usage from you. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 107 My daily bread is literally implor'd. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest viii, He threw himself at her feet to implore forgiveness. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 224 He was perpetually surrounded by suitors imploring his interest. |
b. To beseech, entreat, petition (a person) with deep emotion (to do something).
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 185 Implore her..that she make friends To the strict deputie. 1707 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. to Anne Wortley 2 May (1887) I. 37, I have already told you I love you, and implored you not to forget me. 1838 Lytton Alice i. x, ‘Talk not thus, I implore you, Evelyn.’ 1867 Smiles Huguenots Eng. xii. (1880) 204 The ladies of the household..implored him, with tears in their eyes, not to leave them. |
c. To utter as a supplication.
| 1850 F. E. Smedley Frank Fairlegh xv. 136 ‘Gentlemen, don't ring the bells, pray,’ implored the old man. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xvi, ‘Do not let me think of them too often, too much, or too fondly’, I implored. 1887 M. Corelli Thelma III. iii. ii. 251 ‘Let me go with thee!’ he implored, in broken accents. 1891 Hardy Group of Noble Dames 101 ‘Oh, take it away—please take it away!’ she implored. |
2. intr. To utter touching supplications; const. for (a thing), of (a person).
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxv. 55 Implore, adore, thow indeflore, To mak our oddis evyne. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 351 Holding up my hand, and imploring for our lives. 1870 H. Smart Race for Wife x, She flopped down on her knees, and implored for mercy. 1904 L. T. Meade Love Triumphant ii. 15, I implored of Granny to let us leave the cottage. |
Hence imˈplored ppl. a.
| 1659 Milton Civ. Power Wks. (1847) 413/2, I distrust not, through God's implored assistance, to make [it] plain by these following arguments. |
▪ II. † imˈplore, n. Obs. rare.
[f. prec. vb.]
An act of imploring; imploration, entreaty.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. v. 37 He..urged sore, With percing wordes and pittifull implore, Him hasty to arise. 1607 Barley-Breake (1877) 29 Whose sudden sight her Fathers life-strings crackt, And falling downe, he ended his implore. |