Definition of "petition" []

• A solemn supplication or request to a superior authority; an entreaty. (noun)
• A formal written document requesting a right or benefit from a person or group in authority. (noun)
• Law A formal written application requesting a court for a specific judicial action: a petition for appeal. (noun)
• Law The judicial action asked for in any such request. (noun)
• Something requested or entreated. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "My friend, Dr. Gosset -- who will not (I trust) petition for excommunicating me from the orthodox church to which I have the honour of belonging, if I number him in the upper class of bibliomaniacs -- was unable to attend the sale of the Pinelli collection, from severe illness: but he _did petition_ for a sight of one of these volumes of old"
• "The biggest weaknesses of their argument are (1) the lack of a record of harassment in connection with referendum 71 and (2) the question whether signing a petition is an anonymous act."
• "If any of you are interested in signing it, the petition is here."