petition 1484 |
pe ti tion /pa'tijn/ noun, verb
» noun 1 ~ (against/for sth) a
written document signed by a large number of people that asks sb in a position
of authority to do or change sth if Jjg 7 : a
petition against experiments on animals JS
4$ O The workers are getting up (= starting) a petition for tighter
safety standards. AitJK ,
2 (law W) an official document
asking a court to take a particular course of action EjHJrfS; 7 if 4$ 3 (formal) a formal prayer to
God or request to sb in authority 7W; HfJfc
mverb 1 ~ for/against sth | ~
sb (for sth) to make a formal request to sb in authority, especially by
sending them a petition ; if>R; if E: [V] Local residents have
successfully petitioned against the siting of a prison in their area.
7 o 0 [VN] The group intends to
petition Parliament for reform of the law.
0
[VN to inf] Parents
petitioned the school to review its admission policy. M ifif E &
M 7 $ f# iT IB 7 $ M«,
2
~ (sb) (for sth) to formally ask for sth in court ( [o]
M ) if i, 7 if: [V] to petition for divorce ^ if ^ it
[also VN, VN to inf]
pe ti tion er /pa'tijana^)/ noun 1 a person who organizes
or signs a petition if [g# 2 (law W) a person who asks a
court to take a particular course of action ift Jg A; ifA 3 (formal) a person who makes a
formal request to sb in authority if A#
petit mal /.peti 'mael/ noun [u] a form of epilepsy that is not very serious, in
which sb becomes unconscious only for very short periods
pe tits pois /,peti ‘pwa:/ noun [pi.] (from French) young peas that are picked before they are
full size (
) fms
'pet name noun a name you use for sb
instead of their real name, as a sign of affection pet-rel /'petral/ noun a black and white
bird that can fly over the sea a long way from land PMH;
Petri dish /'petri dif; 'piitri/ noun a shallow covered
dish used for growing bacteria, etc. in ( #
) —picture o laboratory
petri-fied /'petrifaid/ adj. 1 ~ (of sth) | ~ (that .., ) extremely frightened 7 # H 64 HTI terrified : a petrified expression o I’m petrified
of snakes, # $1] ‘If 0
o
They were petrified with fear (= so frightened that they were unable to
move or think), if, C] IFF ^ T o 2 [only before noun] petrified
trees, insects, etc. have died and been changed into stone over a very long
period of time fi-ik 64: a petrified forest Tift#
pet-rify /'petrifai/ verb (petri fies,
petri-fy-ing, petri-fied, petri-fied) 1 [VN] to make sb feel
extremely frightened ^1^^ HTfl terrify 2 [V, VN] to change or to make sth change into a
substance like stone ( ^ t petro- /'petrao; NAmE 'petrou/ combining form (in nouns, adjectives
and adverbs ft] fk % M . # M 40 I'J is])
1
connected with rocks ^ 7 64 : petrology
2
connected with petrol/gas 7 64; H rft 64 : petro
chemical 7i44fc^/ci$i
petro chem ical /.petrau'kemikl; NAmE .petrou-/ noun any chemical substance
obtained from petroleum oil or
natural gas 7 it ¥ 7 op : the petrochemical industry 7tft4fc^7ik
petro dol lar /'petraudulafc); NAmE 'petroudailar/ noun a unit of money that
is used for calculating the money earned by countries that produce and sell oil
7?ft HA
petrol
/'petral/
(BrE)
(NAmE gas-oline, gas) noun [U] a liquid obtained
from petroleum, used as fuel in
car engines, etc. /v/lfl: to fill a car up with petrol it ft 7 ft fi o to run out of petrol ffj ft ft 0 the petrol tank of a
car ft 7 64 iftfg 0 an increase in petrol
prices
ftiftift#r64±$l£ o leaded/unleaded petrol Afp / 4c f&ftffc
— compare diesel(I)
petrol 'blue adj. a deep greenish blue
in colour MM ^-fe64 : petrol-blue
eyes $£US64M.► ,petrol 'blue noun [U]
'petrol bomb noun (BrE) = Molotov cocktail pet-rol-eum /pa'trauliam; NAmE -'trou-/ noun [U] mineral oil that
is found under the ground or the sea and is used to produce petrol/gas, paraffin, diesel oil, etc./Sift; JKfft
pe troleum 'jelly (NAmE also petrolatum /.petra- 'leitam/) noun [U] a soft clear
substance obtained from petroleum, used to heal injuries on the skin or to make
machine parts move together more smoothly Jl±#;
SHI Vaseline
pet rology /pa'trnlad3i; NAmE -'trail-/ noun [u] the
scientific study of how rocks are made and what they are made of ;g77
'petrol
station (BrE) (NAmE 'gas station) (also filling station, 'service station NAmE, BrE) noun a
place at the side of a road where you take your car to buy petrol/gas, oil,
etc.
petti coat /'petikaut; NAmE -kout/ noun (old-fashioned) a
piece of women’s underwear like a thin dress or skirt, worn under a dress or
skirt 44^ EW3 slip petti-fog-ging /'petrfbgirj; NAmE -fa:g-; -fo:g-/ adj. [only before noun] (old-fashioned) paying
too much attention to unimportant details; concerned with unimportant things pftMJ64;
$W64 533 petty pet-ting /'petiq/ noun [U] the activity of
kissing and touching sb, especially in a sexual way ££ ^; tli] If: heavy petting (=
sexual activity which avoids penetration)
M64M&
'petting
zoo noun (NAmE) a
zoo with animals that children can touch ( Aif JLmMiI^$?64 ) pet-tish /'peti.f/ ddj. behaving in a bad-tempered or
unreasonable way, especially because you cannot have or do what you want ^64 (
Ali AfiiiE ) ;
764 ► pet-tish-ly adv.
petty /'peti/ adj. (usually disapproving) 1 [usually
before noun] small and unimportant ^Jn
64 ; 3$ 5? 64 ; X H 64 EGGS minor : petty squabbles /Jv
p fa o petty crime/ theft
(=
that is not very serious) $£ M P ff / Wifft o a petty criminal/thief
g ^
4E ; 7 V)
M 0 a petty
bureaucrat/official
(=
who does not have much power or authority, although they might pretend to) 7 7’
#;
7
2 caring too much about small and unimportant matters, especially when
this is unkind to other people 7 H 64; 64
HTfl small-minded : How could you
be so petty? XsbHVfc? ►
petti-ness noun [U]
.petty 'bourgeois noun, adj. = petit bourgeois the .petty .bourgeoi sie noun [sing.] = petite bourgeoisie
, petty ' cash noun [u] a small amount of
money kept in an office for small payments ( A AH 64 )
.petty 'officer noun (abbr.
petu-lant /'petjulent; NAmE 'petja-/ adj. bad-tempered and
unreasonable, especially because you cannot do or have what you want 64;
^^'14764; 0^64; if'1464 ► petu-lant-ly adv. petu lance /-ans/ noun [U] pe tu nia /pa'tjuinia; NAmE -'tui-/ noun a garden plant with
white, pink, purple or red flowers ^$7 , pew /pju:/ noun a long wooden seat in a church 7 if —
picture o chair ITTHTHI .take a 'pew! (BrE, informal, humorous) used to tell sb to sit down ^7 i pewter /'pju:t8(r)/ noun [U] a grey metal made by mixing tin with lead, used especially in the past
for making cups, dishes, etc.; objects made from pewter £
€; MM
pey-ote /pei'auti; NAmE -'ou-/ noun 1 (also mes-cal) [c, U] a small,
blue-green cactus that contains a
powerful drug that affects people’s minds (
^^#,7illl
A#, ) 2 [U] the drug that
comes from this
plant )
PG /,pi: 'd3i:/ abbr. (BrE) parental
guidance. A film that has the label ‘PG’ is not suitable for
children to watch without an adult. * PG