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Definition of mercy noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

mercy

noun
 
 
/ˈmɜːsi/
 
/ˈmɜːrsi/
(plural mercies)
Idioms
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  1.  
    [uncountable] a kind or forgiving attitude towards somebody that you have the power to harm or right to punish synonym humanity
    • to ask/beg/plead for mercy
    • They showed no mercy to their hostages.
    • God have mercy on us.
    • The troops are on a mercy mission (= a journey to help people) in the war zone.
    Extra Examples
    • God's infinite mercy
    • He asked for mercy for the crimes he had committed.
    • The prisoners begged for mercy.
    • The terrorists are completely without mercy.
    • There shall be no mercy for my enemies.
    Topics Personal qualitiesc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • divine
    • infinite
    • great
    • …
    verb + mercy
    • ask for
    • beg for
    • plead for
    • …
    mercy + noun
    • dash
    • mission
    • killing
    • …
    preposition
    • at the mercy of
    • without mercy
    • mercy for
    • …
    phrases
    • be grateful for small mercies
    • be thankful for small mercies
    See full entry
  2. [countable, usually singular] (informal) an event or a situation to be grateful for, usually because it stops something unpleasant
    • It is a mercy (that)… It's a mercy she wasn't seriously hurt.
    • His death was a mercy (= because he was in great pain).
    3. see also merciful, merciless
    Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French merci ‘pity’ or ‘thanks’, from Latin merces, merced- ‘reward’, in Christian Latin ‘pity, favour, heavenly reward’.
Idioms
at the mercy of somebody/something
  1. not able to stop somebody/something harming you because they have power or control over you
    • I'm not going to put myself at the mercy of the bank.
    • We were at the mercy of the weather.
be grateful/thankful for small mercies
  1. to be happy that a situation that is bad is not as bad as it could have been
    • Well, at least you weren't hurt. I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies.
leave somebody/something to the mercy/mercies of somebody/something
  1. to leave somebody/something in a situation that may cause them to suffer or to be treated badly
    • privatized companies left to the mercy of market forces
    • (humorous) I’ll leave you to the tender mercies of these ladies!
throw yourself on somebody’s mercy
  1. (formal) to put yourself in a situation where you must rely on somebody to be kind to you and not harm or punish you
See mercy in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
Check pronunciation: mercy

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trait
noun
 
 
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