677 
P L E 
Leave fucli to trifle with more grace and eafe ; 
Whom folly pleafes, and whofe follies pleafe. Pope. 
To fatisfy; to content : 
What next I bring (hall pleafe 
Thy with exadlly to thy heart’s detire. Milton’s P. L. 
Eftablifh him in his true fenfe again. 
And I will pleafe you what you will demand. Shahefpeare. 
To obtain favour from. To be pleafed with, is to approve ; 
to favour.—This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleafed. Matth. iii. 17. 
Fickle their flate whom God 
Moft favours; who can pleafe him long ? Milton’s P.L. 
To be Pleased. To like. A word of ceremony.— 
Many of our molt tkilful painters were pleafed to recom¬ 
mend this author to me, as one who perfectly underftood 
the rules of painting. Dryden’s Dufrefnoy. 
To PLEASE, v. 71. To give pleafure.—What pleafing 
feem’d, for her now pleafes more. 31 i!ton’s P.L. —To 
gain approbation.—They fhall not offer wine-offerings to 
the Lord ; neither thall they be pleating unto him. HoJ’ea 
ix. 4.—To like 5 tochoofe: 
Spirits, freed from mortal laws, with eafe 
Aflame what fexes and what fhapes they pleafe. Pope. 
To condefcend ; to comply. A word of ceremony.— 
The firft words that I learnt were, to exprefs my deiire, 
that he would pleafe to give me my liberty. Swift. 
Pleafe you, lords, 
In fight of both our battles we may meet. Shahefpeare. 
PLE'ASEDLY, adv. In a way to be delighted.—He 
that would be pleajedly innocent, mull refrain from the 
tafte of offence. Feltham’s Ref. 
PLE'ASEMAN, J'. A pickthank; an officious fellow : 
Some carry-tale, fome pleafeman, feme flight zany, 
That knows the trick to make my lady laugh, 
Told our intents. Shakefpeare’s L. Lab. loft. 
PLE'ASER, ft One that courts favour; one that en¬ 
deavours to pleafe, or actually pleafes.—No man was 
more a pleafer of all men, to whom he [St. Paul] became 
all honed things, that he might gain fome. Bp. Taylor's 
Artif. Handfom. 
PLE'ASINGLY, adv. In fitch a manner as to give 
delight.—The end of the artifl is pleafingly to deceive the 
eye. Dry den. 
He gains all points, wdto pleafingly confounds, 
Surprizes, varies, and conceals the bounds. Pope. 
PLE'ASINGNESS, ft. Quality of giving delight.— It 
is not the pleajmgnefs or fuitablenefs of a doftrine to our 
tempers or interefts that can vouch it to be true. South. 
PLE'ASINGTON, a town of England, in Lancafhire : 
two miles wed by fouth from Blackburn. Population 599. 
PLE'ASLEY, a parifh of England, in Derbyfliire ; nine 
miles fouth-eaff by ead from Chefferfield. Population 527. 
PLEAS'URABLE, adj. Delightful; full of pleafure.— 
Planting of orchards is very profitable, as weh as pleafar¬ 
able. Bacon. 
There are that the compounded fluid drain 
From different mixtures; lo the blended dreams, 
Each mutually correcting each, create 
A pleafurable medley. Philips. 
PLEAS'URABLENESS, ft. Quality of affording plea¬ 
fure.—Every man ought fo to improve his progrefs in 
what is jud and.right, as to be able to difeern the fraud 
and feigned pleafurablenefs of the bad, and to choofe and 
follow what is good and warrantable. Feltham's Ref. 
PLEASURABLY, adv. With pleafure ;' with delight. 
— It is impoflible to live pleafurably, without living pru¬ 
dently, and honourably, and juflly'; or to live prudently, 
and honourably, and juflly, without living pleafurablu. 
Harris’s Three Treat. 
Vol. XX. No, 1400. 
P L E 
PLEAS'URE, ft. [ plaiftr , Fr.]. Delight; gratification 
of the mind or fenfes.— Pleafure, in general, is the conse¬ 
quent apprehenfion of a fuitable objebt, fuitably applied 
to a rightly-difpofed faculty. South. —A caufe of men’s 
taking pleafure in the fins of others, is, that poor-fpirited- 
nefs that accompanies guilt. South. 
In hollow caves fweet echo quiet lies: 
Her name with pleafure once die taught the fliore, 
Now Daphne’s dead, and pleafure is no more. Pope. 
Loofe gratification.—Not funk in carnal pleafure. Milton’s 
P.L. 
Behold yon fimpering dame, 
That minces virtue, and does flia’ke the head 
To hear o i pleafure’$ name. Shahefpeare's K. Lear. 
Approbation.—The Lord taketh pleafure in them that 
fear him. PJalms. —What the will dictates.—Ufe your 
pleafure; if your love do not perfuade you to come, let 
not my letter. Shahefpeare’s Merch. of Ven. —Choice; ar¬ 
bitrary will.—Raife tempeffs at your pleafure. Dryden. — 
We can at pleafure move feveral parts of our bodies. Loche. 
Half their fleet offends 
His open fide, and high above him fhow's ; 
Upon the reft at pleafure he delcends, 
And, doubly harm’d, iie double harm bellows. Dryden. 
To PLEAS'URE, v.a. To pleafe; to gratify. This 
word, though fupported by good authority, is, I think, 
inelegant. Johnfon. —Nothing is difficult to love; it will 
make a man crofs his own inclinations to pleafure them 
whom he loves. Tillotfon. 
Things, thus fet in order, 
Shall further thy harvell, and pleafure thee beft. TuJJer. 
PLEAS'URE-GROUND,/’. Ground laid out in a pleaf¬ 
ing or ornamental manner, near a manfion. A modern 
term. —As to any rivalfhip which has been fuppofed to 
have fubfifted between the Lyttelton family and Mr. 
Shenftone, in regard to their feveral pleafure-grounds, and 
which has been fo particularly aggravated in Dr. John- 
fon’s account, [of Shenftone,] nothing can be conceived 
more ridiculous. Graves's Reculleft. of Shenftone. 
PLEAS'UREFUL, adj. PJeafant; delightful. Obfolete. 
—This country, for the fruitfulnefs of the land and the 
conveniency of the fea, hath been reputed a very commo¬ 
dious and pleafureful country. Abbot's Defc. of the World. 
PLEAS'URIST, f. One devoted to mere worldly 
pleafure. JSot in ufe. —Let intellectual contents exceed 
the delights, wherein mere pleafurifts place their paradife. 
Brown s Chr. Mur. 
PLEAU, a town of France, in the department of the 
Correze, and chief place of a canton, in the diftriCt of 
Tulles; eighteen miles eaft of Tulles. The place con¬ 
tains 655, and thecanton 6355, inhabitants. 
PLEAUX, a town in the fouth of France, department 
of the Cantal ; containing, with its parifh, 2600 inhabit¬ 
ants : feven miles north-weft of Aurillac. 
PLEBA'NIA, ft In old records, a mother church. 
PLEB'ANUS, ft [from plebaniaf A rural dean. The 
denomination arofe hence, that thefe deaneries w-ere then 
affixed to the plcbauia, or chief mother-church within fuch 
a dillrift ; w hich, at firft, was ufually ten parifhes. 
PLEBE'IAN, f. [plebeius, L?.t.] One of the lower or 
common people. The term is chiefly ufed in fpeakingof 
the ancient Romans; who were divided, about the time 
of Tarquin’s expuifion, into fenators, knights, and ple¬ 
beians.—The plebeians were thofe who could not claim 
their defeent from the ancient fenators, appointed by 
Romulus, and the kings who fucceeded him. Chambers. — 
Upon the lead intervals of peace, the quarrels between 
the nobles and the plebeians would revive. Swift. 
PLEBE'IAN, adj. Popular; confiding of mean perfons. 
—As fwine are to gardens, fo are tumults to parliaments, 
and plebeian concourfes to publick counfels. King Charles. 
—Belonging to the lower ranks: 
8 K 
He 
