Appeal Definition

ə-pēl
appealed, appealing, appeals
noun
appeals
An earnest or urgent request, entreaty, or supplication.
American Heritage
A call upon some authority or person for a decision, opinion, etc.
Webster's New World
A resort to a higher authority or greater power, as for sanction, corroboration, or a decision.
An appeal to reason; an appeal to her listener's sympathy.
American Heritage
An urgent request for help, sympathy, etc.
Webster's New World
A higher court's review of the correctness of a decision by a lower court.
American Heritage
verb
appealed, appealing, appeals
To make an earnest or urgent request, as for help.
American Heritage
To submit (a lower court's ruling, verdict, etc.) to a higher court for review.
Webster's New World
To appeal a law case to a higher court.
Webster's New World
To have recourse, as for corroboration; resort.
I appeal to your sense of justice.
American Heritage
To accuse of a crime.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
idiom
on appeal
  • In the process of being appealed; while being appealed.
American Heritage
on appeal
  • being reviewed or pending review by an appellate court
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Appeal

Noun

Singular:
appeal
Plural:
appeals

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Appeal

  • on appeal
  • on appeal

Origin of Appeal

  • Middle English apel from Old French from apeler to appeal from Latin appellāre to entreat pel-5 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Old French apeler, from Latin appellō.

    From Wiktionary

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