All 5 Uses of
beseech
in
A Tale of Two Cities
- …now, on his knees; now, on his feet; now, on his back; dragged, and struck at, and stifled by the bunches of grass and straw that were thrust into his face by hundreds of hands; torn, bruised, panting, bleeding, yet always entreating and beseeching for mercy; now full of vehement agony of action, with a small clear space about him as the people drew one another back that they might see; now, a log of dead wood drawn through a forest of legs; he was hauled to the nearest street corner…†
Chpt 2.22
- …him as the people drew one another back that they might see; now, a log of dead wood drawn through a forest of legs; he was hauled to the nearest street corner where one of the fatal lamps swung, and there Madame Defarge let him go—as a cat might have done to a mouse—and silently and composedly looked at him while they made ready, and while he besought her: the women passionately screeching at him all the time, and the men sternly calling out to have him killed with grass in his mouth.†
Chpt 2.22
- Being besought to go to him and dress the wound, the Doctor had passed out at the same gate, and had found him in the arms of a company of Samaritans, who were seated on the bodies of their victims.†
Chpt 3.4 *
- He helped him so far to arouse the rocking figure before the dying embers, as to get a cloak and hat put upon it, and to tempt it forth to find where the bench and work were hidden that it still moaningly besought to have.†
Chpt 3.12
- He besought her—though he added that he knew it was needless—to console her father, by impressing him through every tender means she could think of, with the truth that he had done nothing for which he could justly reproach himself, but had uniformly forgotten himself for their joint sakes.†
Chpt 3.13
Definition:
-
(beseech) to ask strongly or beg for somethingeditor's notes: Beseech is common in classic literature. Though its usage has doubled in recent decades, it remains a rare word in modern writing.
Synonym Comparison (if you're into word choice):
Beseech is similar to beg or entreat. Beg implies the request for a personal favor, while entreat implies an attempt to overcome resistance.