*petit*

n. [ L. appetitio: cf. F. appétition. ] Desire; a longing for, or seeking after, something. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. appétitif. ] Having the quality of desiring gratification; as, appetitive power or faculty. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. competition. See Compete. ] The act of seeking, or endeavoring to gain, what another is endeavoring to gain at the same time; common strife for the same objects; strife for superiority; emulous contest; rivalry, as for approbation, for a prize, or as where two or more persons are engaged in the same business and each seeking patronage; -- followed by for before the object sought, and with before the person or thing competed with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Competition to the crown there is none, nor can be. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

A portrait, with which one of Titian's could not come in competition. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is no competition but for the second place. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Where competition does not act at all there is complete monopoly. A. T. Hadley.

Syn. -- Emulation; rivalry; rivalship; contest; struggle; contention; opposition; jealousy. See Emulation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to competition; producing competition; competitory; as, a competitive examination. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an agressive willingness to compete.
Syn. -- fight. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L.: cf. F. compétiteur. ] 1. One who seeks what another seeks, or claims what another claims; one who competes; a rival. [ 1913 Webster ]

And can not brook competitors in love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An associate; a confederate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Every hour more competitors
Flock to their aid, and still their power increaseth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Acting in competition; competing; rival. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A woman who competes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] A competitress. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. See Petty. ] Small; little; insignificant; mean; -- Same as Petty. [ Obs., except in legal language. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

By what small, petit hints does the mind catch hold of and recover a vanishing notion. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Petit constable, an inferior civil officer, subordinate to the high constable. --
Petit jury, a jury of twelve men, impaneled to try causes at the bar of a court; -- so called in distinction from the grand jury. --
Petit larceny, the stealing of goods of, or under, a certain specified small value; -- opposed to grand larceny. The distinction is abolished in England. --
Petit maître [ F., lit., little master. ] A fop; a coxcomb; a ladies' man. Goldsmith. --
Petit serjeanty (Eng. Law), the tenure of lands of the crown, by the service of rendering annually some implement of war, as a bow, an arrow, a sword, a flag, etc. --
Petit treason, formerly, in England, the crime of killing a person to whom the offender owed duty or subjection, as one's husband, master, mistress, etc. The crime is now not distinguished from murder. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖a. [ F., fem. of petit. ] Small, little; -- used especially of a woman or girl, of small size and trim figure; as, her petite figure.
Syn. -- bantam, diminutive, lilliputian, midget, tiny. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F., fem. of petit. ] 1. A size category of women's clothing, for women with less than average height. [ PJC ]

2. An aricle of women's clothing classified in the petite{ 1 } size category. [ PJC ]

3. A girl or woman whose figure is best fit by a petite{ 1 } garment. [ PJC ]

n. (Rhetoric, Logic) The fallacy of assuming the conclusion in the premises; begging the question.
Syn. -- petitio principii. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. pétition, L. petitio, fr. petere, petitum, to beg, ask, seek; perh. akin to E. feather, or find. ] 1. A prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of a solemn or formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a prayer. [ 1913 Webster ]

A house of prayer and petition for thy people. 1 Macc. vii. 37. [ 1913 Webster ]

This last petition heard of all her prayer. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A formal written request addressed to an official person, or to an organized body, having power to grant it. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Specifically: (Law), A request to government, in either of its branches, for the granting of a particular grace or right, or for the legislature to take a specific action; -- in distinction from a memorial, which calls certain facts to mind. The petition may be signed by one or any number of persons. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

4. The written document containing a petition (senses 1 or 2). [ 1913 Webster ]

Petition of right (Law), a petition to obtain possession or restitution of property, either real or personal, from the Crown, which suggests such a title as controverts the title of the Crown, grounded on facts disclosed in the petition itself. Mozley & W. --
The Petition of Right (Eng. Hist.), the parliamentary declaration of the rights of the people, assented to by Charles I. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Petitioned p. pr. & vb. n. Petitioning. ] To make a prayer or request to; to ask from; to solicit; to entreat; especially, to make a formal written supplication, or application to, as to any branch of the government; as, to petition the court; to petition the governor. [ 1913 Webster ]

You have . . . petitioned all the gods for my prosperity. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To make a petition or solicitation. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By way of begging the question; by an assumption. [ R. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Supplicatory; making a petition. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pardon Rome, and any petitionary countrymen. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Containing a petition; of the nature of a petition; as, a petitionary epistle. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person cited to answer, or defend against, a petition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who presents a petition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of presenting apetition; a supplication. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ F., lit., little sickness. ] (Med.) The mildest form of epilepsy, with momentary faintness or unconsciousness, but without convulsions; -- opposed to grand mal. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L., fr. petere to seek. ] One who seeks or asks; a seeker; an applicant. [ R. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. petitorius, fr. petere, petitum, to beg, ask: cf. F. pétitore. ] Petitioning; soliciting; supplicating. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Petitory suit or
Petitory action (Admiralty Law), a suit in which the mere title to property is litigated and sought to be enforced, as distinguished from a possessory suit; also (Scots Law), a suit wherein the plaintiff claims something as due him by the defendant. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. repetitio: cf. F. répétition. See Repeat. ] 1. The act of repeating; a doing or saying again; iteration. [ 1913 Webster ]

I need not be barren of accusations; he hath faults, with surplus to tire in repetition. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Recital from memory; rehearsal. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) The act of repeating, singing, or playing, the same piece or part a second time; reiteration of a note. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Rhet.) Reiteration, or repeating the same word, or the same sense in different words, for the purpose of making a deeper impression on the audience. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Astron. & Surv.) The measurement of an angle by successive observations with a repeating instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Iteration; rehearsal. See Tautology. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , a. Of the nature of, or containing, repetition. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who repeats. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Repeating; containing repetition. [ U.S. ] Dr. T. Dwight. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Containing repetition; repeating. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Cf. L. repetitor a reclaimer. ] (Ger.Univ.) A private instructor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Repetition of one's self or of one's acts; the saying or doing what one has already said or done. [ 1913 Webster ]