Please

• POS: Verb (usu participle), Adverb

CIDE DICTIONARY

Please, v. t. [OE. plesen, OF. plaisir, fr. L. placere, akin to placare to reconcile. Cf. Complacent, Placable, Placid, Plea, Plead, Pleasure.].

•  To give pleasure to; to excite agreeable sensations or emotions in; to make glad; to gratify; to content; to satisfy.  [1913 Webster]

  "I pray to God that it may plesen you."  [1913 Webster]

  "What next I bring shall please thee, be assured."  [1913 Webster]
•  To have or take pleasure in; hence, to choose; to wish; to desire; to will.  [1913 Webster]

  "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he."  [1913 Webster]

  "A man doing as he wills, and doing as he pleases, are the same things in common speech."  [1913 Webster]
•  To be the will or pleasure of; to seem good to; -- used impersonally.  Col. i. 19.  [1913 Webster]

  "To-morrow, may it please you."  [1913 Webster]

To be pleased in or To be pleased with, to have complacency in; to take pleasure in. -- To be pleased to do a thing, to take pleasure in doing it; to have the will to do it; to think proper to do it. Dryden.

Please, v. i. 

•  To afford or impart pleasure; to excite agreeable emotions.  [1913 Webster]

  "What pleasing scemed, for her now pleases more."  [1913 Webster]

  "For we that live to please, must please to live."  [1913 Webster]
•  To have pleasure; to be willing, as a matter of affording pleasure or showing favor; to vouchsafe; to consent.  [1913 Webster]

  "Heavenly stranger, please to taste
  These bounties."  [1913 Webster]

  "That he would please 8give me my liberty."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Please, v.
1 tr. (also absol.) be agreeable to; make glad; give pleasure to (the gift will please them; anxious to please).
2 tr. (in passive) a (foll. by to + infin.) be glad or willing to (am pleased to help). b (often foll. by about, at, with) derive pleasure or satisfaction (from).
3 tr. (with it as subject; usu. foll. by to + infin.) be the inclination or wish of (it did not please them to attend).
4 intr. think fit; have the will or desire (take as many as you please).
5 tr. (short for may it please you) used in polite requests (come in, please).

Idiom

if you please if you are willing, esp. iron. to indicate unreasonableness (then, if you please, we had to pay). pleased as Punch see PUNCH(4). please oneself do as one likes.

Derivative

pleased adj. pleasing adj. pleasingly adv.

Etymology

ME plaise f. OF plaisir f. L placere

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Please

v. To lay the foundation for a superstructure of imposition.

THESAURUS

Please

I beg you, amuse, be good enough, cater to, cheer, choose, choose rather, coddle, content, cosset, delectate, delight, desire, divert, do, elect, entertain, favor, give pleasure, give way to, gladden, go over big, gratify, happify, have a bias, have preference, have rather, have the goodness, hit the spot, honor before, humor, if you please, indulge, interest, lean towards, like, like better, make a hit, mollycoddle, oblige, opt, overjoy, pamper, pleasure, pray, pray do, prefer, prefer to, prithee, rather, regale, rejoice, satisfy, see fit, set before, spoil, suit, think best, think fit, think proper, tickle, titillate, want, will, will you, wish, yield to

ROGET THESAURUS

Please

Request

N request, requisition, claim, petition, suit, prayer, begging letter, round robin, motion, overture, application, canvass, address, appeal, apostrophe, imprecation, rogation, proposal, proposition, orison, incantation, mendicancy, asking, begging, postulation, solicitation, invitation, entreaty, importunity, supplication, instance, impetration, imploration, obsecration, obtestation, invocation, interpellation, requesting, precatory, suppliant, supplicant, supplicatory, postulant, obsecratory, importunate, clamorous, urgent, cap in hand, on one's knees, on one's bended knees, on one's marrowbones, prithee, do, please, pray, be so good as, be good enough, have the goodness, vouchsafe, will you, I pray thee, if you please, Int, for God's sake!, for heaven's sake!, for goodness' sake!, for mercy's sake!, Dieu vous garde, dirigenos Domine, would you be so kind as to.

Pleasurableness

VB cause pleasure, produce pleasure, create pleasure, give pleasure, afford pleasure, procure pleasure, offer pleasure, present pleasure, yield pleasure, please, charm, delight, becharm, imparadise, gladden, take, captivate, fascinate, enchant, entrance, enrapture, transport, bewitch, enravish, bless, beatify, satisfy, gratify, desire, slake, satiate, quench, indulge, humor, flatter, tickle, tickle the palate, regale, refresh, enliven, treat, amuse, take one's fancy, tickle one's fancy, hit one's fancy, meet one's wishes, win the heart, gladden the heart, rejoice the heart, warm the cockles of the heart, do one's heart good, attract, allure, stimulate, interest, make things pleasant, popularize, gild the pill, sugar-coat the pill, sweeten.

Amusement

VB amuse, entertain, divert, enliven, tickle the fancy, titillate, raise a smile, put in good humor, cause laughter, create laughter, occasion laughter, raise laughter, excite laughter, produce laughter, convulse with laughter, set the table in a roar, be the death of one, recreate, solace, cheer, rejoice, please, interest, treat, regale, amuse oneself, game, play a game, play pranks, play tricks, sport, disport, toy, wanton, revel, junket, feast, carouse, banquet, make merry, drown care, drive dull care away, frolic, gambol, frisk, romp, caper, dance, keep up the ball, run a rig, sow one's wild oats, have one's fling, take one's pleasure, paint the town red, see life, desipere in loco, play the fool, make holiday, keep holiday, go a Maying, while away the time, beguile the time, kill time, dally, smile, simper, smirk, grin, grin like a Cheshire cat, mock, laugh in one's sleeve, laugh, laugh outright, giggle, titter, snigger, crow, snicker, chuckle, cackle, burst out, burst into a fit of laughter, shout, split, roar, shake one's sides, split one's sides, hold both one's sides, roar with laughter, die with laughter.