petitioning

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pe·ti·tion

(pə-tĭsh′ən)

1. A solemn supplication or request, especially to a superior authority; an entreaty.

2. A formal written document requesting a right or benefit from a person or group in authority.

3. Law

a. A formal written application seeking a court's intervention and action on a matter: a petition for review of a previous court's decision.

b. A pleading initiating a legal case in some civil courts: a bankruptcy petition.

4. Something requested or entreated: granted our petition.

v. pe·ti·tioned, pe·ti·tion·ing, pe·ti·tions

v.tr.

1. To address a petition to: petitioned the king for a pardon.

2. To ask for by petition; request formally: petitioned that the sentence be reduced.

v.intr.

To make a request, especially formally: petitioned for retrial.

[Middle English peticion, from Old French petition, from Latin petītiō, petītiōn-, from petītus, past participle of petere, to request; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]

pe·ti′tion·ar′y (pə-tĭsh′ə-nĕr′ē) adj.

pe·ti′tion·er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

postulante

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References in classic literature ?

There was a great bustle in Bishopsgate Street Within, as they drew up, and (it being a windy day) half-a-dozen men were tacking across the road under a press of paper, bearing gigantic announcements that a Public Meeting would be holden at one o'clock precisely, to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning Parliament in favour of the United Metropolitan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking and Punctual Delivery Company, capital five millions, in five hundred thousand shares of ten pounds each; which sums were duly set forth in fat black figures of considerable size.

View in context

If you are cheated out of a single dollar by your neighbor, you do not rest satisfied with knowing that you are cheated, or with saying that you are cheated, or even with petitioning him to pay you your due; but you take effectual steps at once to obtain the full amount, and see that you are never cheated again.

It is not my business to be petitioning the Governor or the Legislature any more than it is theirs to petition me; and if they should not hear my petition, what should I do then?

Some are petitioning the State to dissolve the Union, to disregard the requisitions of the President.

View in context

It was not a case of a US citizen parent petitioning his or her child as an immediate relative.

How come the consul said my child 'aged out'?

However, a petitioning creditor's eligibility to join in an involuntary bankruptcy is conditioned on its claim not being subject to a bona fide dispute,

Are Creditors With Partially Disputed Claims Eligible to Join an Involuntary Bankruptcy Petition? Yes and No!

Petitioning for Land: The Petitions of First Peoples of Modern British Colonies

Petitioning was one of the few political rights women possessed and had proved an effective strategy in earlier campaigns.

How signing here helped women to get the vote at last; Durham University's HENRY MILLER and CIARA STEWART on the petitions that helped to change the voting system

But amidst the circus, an apparent voice of reason created a petition to stop fans from petitioning against 'The Last Jedi'.

Unsatisfied 'Star Wars' fans create online petitions against 'The Last Jedi'

Petitioning by members of the public has been a feature of citizens' interactions with governing bodies since classical times.

Are E-petitions a viable tool for increasing citizen participation in our parliamentary institutions?

Petitioning the government for a redress of grievances is a First Amendment right, but it's safe to say our Founding Fathers never envisioned Americans exercising that right with the click of a mouse.

White House Petitions: Are They Pointless?

However, in apparent defiance of this agreement, E filed Forth 8857, Request For Innocent Spouse Relief, petitioning for relief front her joint and several liability for tax years 1990-1994.