importune English
Verb
( importun)
To bother, trouble, irritate.
* , II.17:
- To deliberate, be it but in slight matters, doth importune me.
To harass with persistent requests.
* 1610 , , act 2 scene 1
- You were kneel'd to, and importun'd otherwise / By all of us;.
* Jonathan Swift
- Their ministers and residents here have perpetually importuned the court with unreasonable demands.
To approach to offer one's services as a prostitute, or otherwise make improper proposals.
(obsolete) To import; to signify.
* Spenser
- It importunes death.
Adjective
( en adjective)
(obsolete) Grievous, severe, exacting.
* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.vi:
- And therewithall he fiercely at him flew, / And with importune outrage him assayld [...].
(obsolete) inopportune; unseasonable
(obsolete) troublesome; vexatious; persistent
* Spenser
- And their importune fates all satisfied.
* Francis Bacon
- Of all other affections it [envy] is the most importune and continual.
Related terms
* importunate
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beseech English
Alternative forms
*
Verb
To beg or implore.
* 1748 , David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral , London, Oxford University Press, 1973, § 25:
- after what manner, I beseech you, must the mind proceed in this operation?
* 1888 , Rudyard Kipling, ‘Watches of the Night’, Plain Tales from the Hills , Folio 2005, p. 61:
- She besought him, for his Soul's sake to speak the truth.
* 1919 ,
- Panting a little in his haste, he told her how miserable he was; he besought her to have mercy on him; he promised, if she would forgive him, to do everything she wanted.
Related terms
* seek
Noun
( beseeches)
(archaic) A request.
* 1839 , Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, George Darley, The works of Beaumont and Fletcher: Volume 1 :
- Good madam, hear the suit that Edith urges, With such submiss beseeches ; [...]
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