It would be sweet if this entry also included the interjection use (somewhat dated), as in "Pray, tell me, what's the time?"
I, also, expected that to be there. However, I only use the meaning in a sort of mocking way: for example, if I point out that what someone has said is stupid, and they say, "I didn't mean that" I would reply, "Well then what, pray, did you mean?". Kind of annoys people :P--84.19.225.251 18:18, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
I find it strange that the given antonym is "curse" (actually, I find it strange that there is any antonym listed at all). At "curse", the antonym "bless" is listed, which is more correct. Niquesse90 (talk) 10:58, 3 September 2014 (UTC)
The two usages (Spenser and Shakespeare) seem a bit different in terms of what sort of grammatical object they take. Equinox ◑ 20:17, 18 December 2016 (UTC)
To attempt to achieve something by prayer or by wishing very hard
The villagers tried to pray the drought away. JMGN (talk) 16:22, 9 September 2023 (UTC)
I would argue that meanings 3 and 5 are archaic rather than obsolete. Both can be found in Collins Dictionary, both are not uncommon in 19th century literature, appear at least once in 'The Story of the Grail and the Passing of King Arthur' from 1910 ("So I pray you to let that armor be sent to my room, where I may have it to hand when I want it"), which is hardly obscure, and the last example of meaning 5 is from 2021. 88.156.143.208 12:58, 24 April 2024 (UTC)