Petition: meaning, example and synonyms

Petitionv. To make a formal request to an authority, often in writing.

Flashcard for Petition (verb): to make a formal request to an authority, often in writing. Example: Residents petitioned the city council to restore the bus route, gathering more than three thousand signatures in two weeks. Synonyms: request, appeal, ask, solicit. Antonyms: refuse, deny, reject, decline. Memory tip: Latin petere = "to seek": you petition to seek something. Illustration: a group of fully clothed townspeople lining up at a table to sign a long scroll outside a town hall.

Example

Residents petitioned the city council to restore the bus route, gathering more than three thousand signatures in two weeks.

Part of speech
verb
Synonyms
request, appeal, ask, solicit
Antonyms
refuse, deny, reject, decline
Memory tip
Latin petere = "to seek": you petition to seek something.

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Check yourself: Petition in context

Pick the word that best completes each text, as on the SAT's words-in-context questions.

Question 1

Parents ______ the school board to delay the start of the school day, citing research on teenagers' sleep.

Question 2

Unable to vote, the town's women nonetheless organized to ______ the legislature for funding to build a public library.

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