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appeal

Appeal means to ask, or address. If you appeal to someone's better nature, you're asking them for mercy. If a shirt doesn't appeal to you, you could also say it doesn't "speak" to you, or more simply, you don't like it.

Appeal also means to call upon a higher court to review a lower court's decision. If you appeal a court's conviction of you for shop lifting, you're asking a higher court to throw the decision out. Appeal descends from the Latin appellare "to address, call upon."

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: appeal

1
 nv
earnest or urgent request
request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or protection
2
 nv
(law) a legal proceeding in which the appellant resorts to a higher court for the purpose of obtaining a review of a lower court decision and a reversal of the lower court's judgment or the granting of a new trial
take a court case to a higher court for review
3
 nv
attractiveness that interests or pleases or stimulates
be attractive to
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: appeal
1

n earnest or urgent request

“an appeal for help”
“an appeal to the public to keep calm”
Synonyms:
entreaty, prayer
Types:
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adjuration
a solemn and earnest appeal to someone to do something
demagoguery, demagogy
impassioned appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the populace
plea, supplication
a humble request for help from someone in authority
solicitation
an entreaty addressed to someone of superior status
suit
a petition or appeal made to a person of superior status or rank
courting, courtship, suit, wooing
a man's courting of a woman; seeking the affections of a woman (usually with the hope of marriage)
flag waving, jingoism
an appeal intended to arouse patriotic emotions
beggary, begging, mendicancy
a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person)
touch
the act of soliciting money (as a gift or loan)
importunity, urgency, urging
insistent solicitation and entreaty
bundling
a onetime custom during courtship of unmarried couples occupying the same bed without undressing
Type of:
asking, request
the verbal act of requesting

n request for a sum of money

“an appeal to raise money for starving children”
Synonyms:
collection, ingathering, solicitation
Types:
whip-round
(British) solicitation of money usually for a benevolent purpose
Type of:
petition, postulation, request
a formal message requesting something that is submitted to an authority

v request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or protection

“appeal to somebody for help”
Synonyms:
invoke
Types:
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plead
appeal or request earnestly
call on, turn
have recourse to or make an appeal or request for help or information to
beg, implore, pray
call upon in supplication; entreat
adjure, beseech, bid, conjure, entreat, press
ask for or request earnestly
Type of:
bespeak, call for, quest, request
express the need or desire for; ask for
2

n (law) a legal proceeding in which the appellant resorts to a higher court for the purpose of obtaining a review of a lower court decision and a reversal of the lower court's judgment or the granting of a new trial

“their appeal was denied in the superior court”
Type of:
legal proceeding, proceeding, proceedings
(law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked

v take a court case to a higher court for review

“He was found guilty but appealed immediately”
Type of:
challenge
issue a challenge to

v challenge (a decision)

“She appealed the verdict”
Type of:
challenge, take exception
raise a formal objection in a court of law

v cite as an authority; resort to

“I appealed to the law of 1900”
Synonyms:
invoke
Type of:
advert, bring up, cite, mention, name, refer
make reference to
3

n attractiveness that interests or pleases or stimulates

“his smile was part of his appeal to her”
Synonyms:
appealingness, charm
Types:
siren call, siren song
the enticing appeal of something alluring but potentially dangerous
winsomeness
childlike charm or appeal
Type of:
attractiveness
sexual allure

v be attractive to

“The idea of a vacation appeals to me”
Synonyms:
attract
Antonyms:
repel, repulse
be repellent to; cause aversion in
Types:
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becharm, beguile, bewitch, captivate, capture, catch, charm, enamor, enamour, enchant, entrance, fascinate, trance
attract; cause to be enamored
beckon
appear inviting
hold
hold the attention of
work
gratify and charm, usually in order to influence
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