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MERCY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice
Example:
he threw himself on the mercy of the court
Synonyms:
clemency; mercifulness; mercy
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("mercy" is a kind of...):
lenience; leniency (lightening a penalty or excusing from a chore by judges or parents or teachers)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mercy"):
commutation; re-sentencing ((law) the reduction in severity of a punishment imposed by law)
amnesty; free pardon; pardon (the formal act of liberating someone)
quarter (clemency or mercy shown to a defeated opponent)
reprieve; respite (the act of reprieving; postponing or remitting punishment)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Alleviation of distress; showing great kindness toward the distressed
Example:
distributing food and clothing to the flood victims was an act of mercy
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("mercy" is a kind of...):
ministration; relief; succor; succour (assistance in time of difficulty)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A disposition to be kind and forgiving
Example:
in those days a wife had to depend on the mercifulness of her husband
Synonyms:
mercifulness; mercy
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("mercy" is a kind of...):
humaneness (the quality of compassion or consideration for others (people or animals))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mercy"):
compassion; pity (the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it)
forgivingness; kindness (tendency to be kind and forgiving)
lenience; leniency; lenity; mildness (mercifulness as a consequence of being lenient or tolerant)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The feeling that motivates compassion
Synonyms:
mercifulness; mercy
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("mercy" is a kind of...):
compassion; compassionateness (a deep awareness of and sympathy for another's suffering)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mercy"):
forgiveness (compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgive)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Something for which to be thankful
Example:
it was a mercy we got out alive
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("mercy" is a kind of...):
blessing; boon (a desirable state)
Context examples:
I had determined, if you were going southwards, still to trust myself to the mercy of the seas rather than abandon my purpose.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
And if he is the great Head, he will be at my mercy; for I will roll this head all about the room until he promises to give us what we desire.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Ah, answered he, let mercy take the place of justice, I only made up my mind to do it out of necessity.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
"Oh, St. John!" I cried, "have some mercy!" I appealed to one who, in the discharge of what he believed his duty, knew neither mercy nor remorse.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Mercy me, how time does fly!
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Have a little mercy on the poor men.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
He shook his head with a smile, and looked as if he had very little doubt and very little mercy.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
"It would be a mercy to kill him," Scott insisted.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
I leave him entirely to your mercy, and when he has got you at Everingham, I do not care how much you lecture him.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
The younger Miss Thorpes being also dancing, Catherine was left to the mercy of Mrs. Thorpe and Mrs. Allen, between whom she now remained.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
