please
verb/pliːz/
/pliːz/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they please | /pliːz/ /pliːz/ |
| he / she / it pleases | /ˈpliːzɪz/ /ˈpliːzɪz/ |
| past simple pleased | /pliːzd/ /pliːzd/ |
| past participle pleased | /pliːzd/ /pliːzd/ |
| -ing form pleasing | /ˈpliːzɪŋ/ /ˈpliːzɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to make somebody happy
- please somebody You can't please everybody.
- Children are usually easy to please.
- He's a difficult man to please.
- I was pleased by the results.
- There's just no pleasing some people (= some people are impossible to please).
- I did it to please my parents.
- You must be pleased by their confidence in you.
- it pleases somebody to do something It pleased him to see the children playing with their gifts.
- She's always very eager to please.
- This film is sure to please horror fans.
- These guys aim to please and they never fail.
Extra Examples- Some children are very difficult to please.
- The planning policy failed to please anyone.
- The result pleased us enormously.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- enormously
- be difficult to
- be hard to
- be impossible to
- …
- there’s no pleasing somebody
Definitions on the go
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- [intransitive] often used after as or what, where, etc. to mean ‘to want’, ‘to choose’ or ‘to like’ to do something
- You may stay as long as you please.
- She always does exactly as she pleases.
- I'm free now to live wherever I please.
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French plaisir ‘to please’, from Latin placere.
Idioms
See please in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee please in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishif you please
- (old-fashioned, formal) used when politely asking somebody to do something
- Take a seat, if you please.
- (especially British English, old-fashioned) used to say that you are annoyed or surprised at somebody’s actions
- And now, if you please, he wants me to rewrite the whole thing!
please the eye
- to be very attractive to look at
please God
- used to say that you very much hope or wish that something will happen or not happen
- Please God, don't let him be dead.
please yourself
- (informal) used to tell somebody that you are annoyed with them and do not care what they do
- ‘I don't think I'll bother finishing this.’ ‘Please yourself.’
please yourself | do as you please
- to be able to do whatever you like
- There were no children to cook for, so we could just please ourselves.
Check pronunciation:
please