pray

Universal Words verb, adverb verb 1 ~ (to sb) (for sb/sth) to speak to God, especially to give thanks or ask for help: [V] They knelt down and prayed. * I'll pray for you. * to pray for peace / rain * She prayed to God for an end to her sufferings. * [V(that)] We prayed (that) she would recover from her illness. * [Vtoinf] He prayed to be forgiven. [also Vspeech] 2 ~ (for sth) to hope very much that sth will happen: [V] We're praying for good weather on Saturday. * [Vthat] I prayed that nobody would notice my mistake. adverb (old use or ironic) used to mean 'please' when you are asking a question or telling sb to do sth: What, pray, is the meaning of this? * Pray continue.