_Pity_ is a feeling of grief or pain aroused by the weakness, misfortunes, or distresses of others, joined with a desire to help or relieve. _Sympathy_ (feeling or suffering with) implies some degree of equality, kindred, or union; _pity_ is for what is weak or unfortunate, and so far, at least, inferior to ourselves; hence, _pity_ is often resented where _sympathy_ would be welcome. We have _sympathy_ with one in joy or grief, in pleasure or pain, _pity_ only for those in suffering or need; we may have _sympathy_ with the struggles of a giant or the triumphs of a conqueror; we are moved with _pity_ for the captive or the slave. _Pity_ may be only in the mind, but _mercy_ does something for those who are its objects. _Compa.s.sion_, like _pity_, is exercised only with respect to the suffering or unfortunate, but combines with the tenderness of _pity_ the dignity of _sympathy_ and the active quality of _mercy_. _Commiseration_ is as tender as _compa.s.sion_, but more remote and hopeless; we have _commiseration_ for sufferers whom we can not reach or can not relieve. _Condolence_ is the expression of _sympathy_.

Compare MERCY.

Antonyms:

barbarity, ferocity, harshness, pitilessness, severity, brutality, hard-heartedness, inhumanity, rigor, sternness, cruelty, hardness, mercilessness, ruthlessness, truculence.

Prepositions:

Pity _on_ or _upon_ that which we help or spare; pity _for_ that which we merely contemplate; "have pity _upon_ me, O ye my friends," _Job_ xix, 21; "pity _for_ a horse o'erdriven," TENNYSON _In Memoriam_ lxii, st. 1.

PLANT.

Synonyms:

seed, seed down, set, set out, sow.

We _set_ or _set out_ slips, cuttings, young trees, etc., tho we may also be said to _plant_ them; we _plant_ corn, potatoes, etc., which we put in definite places, as in hills, with some care; we _sow_ wheat or other small grains and seeds which are scattered in the process. Tho by modern agricultural machinery the smaller grains are almost as precisely _planted_ as corn, the old word for broadcast scattering is retained.

Land is _seeded_ or _seeded down_ to gra.s.s.

Antonyms:

eradicate, extirpate, root up, uproot, weed out.

PLEAD.

Synonyms:

advocate, ask, beseech, implore, solicit, argue, beg, entreat, press, urge.

To _plead_ for one is to employ argument or persuasion, or both in his behalf, usually with earnestness or importunity; similarly one may be said to _plead_ for himself or for a cause, etc., or with direct object, to _plead_ a case; in legal usage, _pleading_ is argumentative, but in popular usage, _pleading_ always implies some appeal to the feelings.

One _argues_ a case solely on rational grounds and supposably with fair consideration of both sides; he _advocates_ one side for the purpose of carrying it, and under the influence of motives that may range all the way from cold self-interest to the highest and n.o.blest impulses; he _pleads_ a cause, or _pleads_ for a person with still more intense feeling. _Beseech_, _entreat_, and _implore_ imply impa.s.sioned earnestness, with direct and tender appeal to personal considerations.

_Press_ and _urge_ imply more determined or perhaps authoritative insistence. _Solicit_ is a weak word denoting merely an attempt to secure one's consent or cooperation, sometimes by sordid or corrupt motives.

Prepositions:

Plead _with_ the tyrant _for_ the captive; plead _against_ the oppression or the oppressor; plead _to_ the indictment; _at_ the bar; _before_ the court; _in_ open court.

PLEASANT.

Synonyms:

agreeable, good-natured, kindly, pleasing, attractive, kind, obliging, pleasurable.

That is _pleasing_ from which pleasure is received, or may readily be received, without reference to any action or intent in that which confers it; as, a _pleasing_ picture; a _pleasing_ landscape. Whatever has active qualities adapted to give pleasure is _pleasant_; as, a _pleasant_ breeze; a _pleasant_ (not a _pleasing_) day. As applied to persons, _pleasant_ always refers to a disposition ready and desirous to please; one is _pleasant_, or in a _pleasant_ mood, when inclined to make happy those with whom he is dealing, to show kindness and do any reasonable favor. In this sense _pleasant_ is nearly akin to _kind_, but _kind_ refers to act or intent, while _pleasant_ stops with the disposition; many persons are no longer in a _pleasant_ mood if asked to do a troublesome kindness. _Pleasant_ keeps always something of the sense of actually giving pleasure, and thus surpa.s.ses the meaning of _good-natured_; there are _good-natured_ people who by reason of rudeness and ill-breeding are not _pleasant_ companions. A _pleasing_ face has good features, complexion, expression, etc.; a _pleasant_ face indicates a _kind_ heart and an _obliging_ disposition, as well as _kindly_ feelings in actual exercise; we can say of one usually _good-natured_, "on that occasion he did not meet me with a _pleasant_ face." _Pleasant_, in the sense of gay, merry, jocose (the sense still retained in _pleasantry_), is now rare, and would not be understood outside of literary circles. Compare AMIABLE; COMFORTABLE; DELIGHTFUL.

Antonyms:

arrogant, displeasing, glum, ill-humored, repelling, austere, dreary, grim, ill-natured, repulsive, crabbed, forbidding, harsh, offensive, unkind, disagreeable, gloomy, hateful, repellent, unpleasant.

Prepositions:

Pleasant _to_, _with_, or _toward_ persons, _about_ a matter.

PLENTIFUL.

Synonyms:

abounding, bountiful, generous, plenteous, abundant, complete, large, profuse, adequate, copious, lavish, replete, affluent, enough, liberal, rich, ample, exuberant, luxuriant, sufficient, bounteous, full, overflowing, teeming.

_Enough_ is relative, denoting a supply equal to a given demand. A temperature of 70 Fahrenheit is _enough_ for a living-room; of 212 _enough_ to boil water; neither is _enough_ to melt iron. _Sufficient_, from the Latin, is an equivalent of the Saxon _enough_, with no perceptible difference of meaning, but only of usage, _enough_ being the more blunt, homely, and forcible word, while _sufficient_ is in many cases the more elegant or polite. _Sufficient_ usually precedes its noun; _enough_ usually and preferably follows. That is _ample_ which gives a safe, but not a large, margin beyond a given demand; that is _abundant_, _affluent_, _bountiful_, _liberal_, _plentiful_, which is largely in excess of manifest need. _Plentiful_ is used of supplies, as of food, water, etc.; as, "a _plentiful_ rain," _Ps._ lxviii, 9. We may also say a _copious_ rain; but _copious_ can be applied to thought, language, etc., where _plentiful_ can not well be used. _Affluent_ and _liberal_ both apply to riches, resources; _liberal_, with especial reference to giving or expending. (Compare synonyms for ADEQUATE.) _Affluent_, referring especially to riches, may be used of thought, feeling, etc. Neither _affluent_, _copious_, nor _plentiful_ can be used of time or s.p.a.ce; a field is sometimes called _plentiful_, not with reference to its extent, but to its productiveness. _Complete_ expresses not excess or overplus, and yet not mere sufficiency, but harmony, proportion, fitness to a design, or ideal. _Ample_ and _abundant_ may be applied to any subject. We have time _enough_, means that we can reach our destination without haste, but also without delay; if we have _ample_ time, we may move leisurely, and note what is by the way; if we have _abundant_ time, we may pause to converse with a friend, to view the scenery, or to rest when weary. _Lavish_ and _profuse_ imply a decided excess, oftenest in the ill sense. We rejoice in _abundant_ resources, and honor _generous_ hospitality; _lavish_ or _profuse_ expenditure suggests extravagance and wastefulness. _Luxuriant_ is used especially of that which is _abundant_ in growth; as, a _luxuriant_ crop.

Antonyms:

deficient, inadequate, narrow, scanty, small, drained, insufficient, n.i.g.g.ardly, scarce, sparing, exhausted, mean, poor, scrimped, stingy, impoverished, miserly, scant, short, straitened.

Preposition:

Plentiful _in_ resources.

POETRY.

Synonyms:

meter, numbers, poesy, song, metrical composition, poem, rime, verse.