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mercy
(redirected from been thankful for small mercies)

   Also found in: Legal 0.01 sec.
mer·cy  (mûrs)
n. pl. mer·cies
1. Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one's power; clemency.
2. A disposition to be kind and forgiving: a heart full of mercy.
3. Something for which to be thankful; a blessing: It was a mercy that no one was hurt.
4. Alleviation of distress; relief: Taking in the refugees was an act of mercy.
Idiom:
at the mercy of
Without any protection against; helpless before: drifting in an open boat, at the mercy of the elements.

[Middle English, from Old French merci, from Medieval Latin mercs, from Latin, reward.]
Synonyms: mercy, leniency, lenity, clemency, charity
These nouns mean humane and kind, sympathetic, or forgiving treatment of or disposition toward others. Mercy is compassionate forbearance: "We hand folks over to God's mercy, and show none ourselves" (George Eliot).
Leniency and lenity imply mildness, gentleness, and often a tendency to reduce punishment: "When you have gone too far to recede, do not sue [appeal] to me for leniency" (Charles Dickens). "His Majesty gave many marks of his great lenity, often . . . endeavoring to extenuate your crimes" (Jonathan Swift).
Clemency is mercy shown by someone with judicial authority: The judge believed in clemency for youthful offenders.
Charity is goodwill and benevolence in judging others: "But how shall we expect charity towards others, when we are uncharitable to ourselves?" (Thomas Browne).

mercy [ˈmɜːsɪ]
n pl -cies
1. compassionate treatment of or attitude towards an offender, adversary, etc., who is in one's power or care; clemency; pity
2. the power to show mercy to throw oneself on someone's mercy
3. a relieving or welcome occurrence or state of affairs his death was a mercy after weeks of pain
at the mercy of in the power of
[from Old French, from Latin mercēs wages, recompense, price, from merx goods]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.mercy - leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justicemercy - leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice; "he threw himself on the mercy of the court"
lenience, leniency - lightening a penalty or excusing from a chore by judges or parents or teachers
re-sentencing, commutation - (law) the reduction in severity of a punishment imposed by law
free pardon, pardon, amnesty - the formal act of liberating someone
quarter - clemency or mercy shown to a defeated opponent; "he surrendered but asked for quarter"
reprieve, respite - the act of reprieving; postponing or remitting punishment
2.mercy - a disposition to be kind and forgiving; "in those days a wife had to depend on the mercifulness of her husband"
humaneness - the quality of compassion or consideration for others (people or animals)
compassion, pity - the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it
forgivingness, kindness - tendency to be kind and forgiving
lenience, leniency, lenity, mildness - mercifulness as a consequence of being lenient or tolerant
3.mercy - the feeling that motivates compassionmercy - the feeling that motivates compassion
compassion, compassionateness - a deep awareness of and sympathy for another's suffering
forgiveness - compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgive
4.mercy - something for which to be thankful; "it was a mercy we got out alive"
boon, blessing - a desirable state; "enjoy the blessings of peace"; "a spanking breeze is a boon to sailors"
5.mercy - alleviation of distressmercy - alleviation of distress; showing great kindness toward the distressed; "distributing food and clothing to the flood victims was an act of mercy"
ministration, succor, succour, relief - assistance in time of difficulty; "the contributions provided some relief for the victims"

mercy
noun
2. blessing, relief, boon, godsend, piece of luck, benison (archaic) It was a mercy he'd gone so quickly in the end.
at the mercy of something or someone
3. defenceless against, subject to, open to, exposed to, vulnerable to, threatened by, susceptible to, prey to, an easy target for, naked before, unprotected against Buildings are left to decay at the mercy of vandals and bad weather.
4. in the power of, under the control of, in the clutches of, under the heel of servants or slaves were at the mercy of their masters
Quotations
"Yet I shall temper so"
"Justice with mercy" [John Milton Paradise Lost]
Translations
mercy [ˈmɜːsɪ]
A. N
1. (= compassion) → misericordia f; (= clemency) → clemencia f, piedad f
to beg for mercypedir clemencia
to have mercy on sbtener misericordia or piedad de algn, tener clemencia para con algn
have mercy!¡por piedad!
God in His mercyel Señor en su infinita bondad
to show sb no mercyno mostrarse misericordioso or clemente con algn
no mercy was shown to the riotersno hubo clemencia para los revoltosos
2. (= discretion)
to be at the mercy of sth/sbestar a merced de algo/algn
to be left to the tender mercies of sb (esp hum) → quedar a merced de algn
to throw o.s. on sb's mercyponerse en(las)manos de algn
3. (= blessing)
his death was a mercysu muerte fue una bendición
it's a mercy that no-one was hurtes un milagro que nadie resultara herido, menos mal que nadie resultó herido
we should be grateful for small merciesy demos gracias, porque podría haber sido peor
see also thankful
B. CPD mercy flight Nvuelo m de ayuda(para ayudar a alguien necesitado en una guerra, etc)
mercy killing Neutanasia f

mercy [ˈmɜːrsi] n
(= compassion) → compassion f
acts of mercy → des actes de compassion
to plead for mercy, to beg for mercy → demander grâce
to cry for mercy → crier grâce
to show mercy → faire quartier
to show no mercy → ne pas faire de quartier
Neither side took prisoners or showed any mercy → Aucun des deux camps ne prenait de prisonnier ou ne faisait de quartier.
at the mercy of sth → à la merci de qch
to be at the mercy of sb → être à la merci de qn
to throw o.s. on the mercy of sb → se jeter aux pieds de qn
to throw o.s. on the mercy of the court → en appeler à la clémence de la cour
[God] → miséricorde f
divine mercy → la miséricorde divine
to have mercy on sb → prendre pitié de qn
to be thankful for small mercies, to be grateful for small mercies → s'estimer heureux/euse
mercy killing neuthanasie f

mercy
n
no pl (= feeling of compassion)Erbarmen nt; (= action, forbearance from punishment)Gnade f; (= God’s mercy)Barmherzigkeit f; to beg for mercyum Gnade bitten or flehen; to have mercy/no mercy on somebodymit jdm Erbarmen/kein Erbarmen haben; have mercy!Gnade!, Erbarmen!; Lord have mercy upon usHerr, erbarme dich unser; to show somebody mercy/no mercyErbarmen/kein Erbarmen mit jdm haben; to throw oneself on somebody’s mercysich jdm auf Gnade und Ungnade ausliefern; to be at the mercy of somebodyjdm (auf Gedeih und Verderb) ausgeliefert sein; to be at the mercy of somethingeiner Sache (dat)ausgeliefert sein; we’re at your mercywir sind in Ihrer Gewalt or Hand; at the mercy of the elementsdem Spiel der Elemente preisgegeben; a mission of mercyeine Hilfsaktion
(inf: = blessing) → Segen m, → Glück nt; it’s a mercy nobody was hurtman kann von Glück sagen, dass niemand verletzt wurde; we must be thankful for small merciesman muss schon mit wenigem zufrieden or für weniges dankbar sein

mercy:
mercy killing
nEuthanasie f, → Töten ntaus Mitleid
mercy seat
nGnadenthron or -stuhl m

mercy [ˈmɜːsɪ] npietà f inv, clemenza (Rel) → misericordia
to be at the mercy of sb/sth → essere alla mercé or in balia di qn/qc
to have mercy on sb → avere pietà di qn
to be left to the tender mercies of sb → essere lasciato/a alle buone cure di qn
it's a mercy that ... → è una fortuna che + sub

mercy
n mercy [ˈməːsi]
1 kindness towards a person, especially an enemy, who is in one's power He showed his enemies no mercy. genade رَحْمَه пощада slitování nåde; barmhjertighed die Gnade έλεος, οίκτος compasión, clemencia halastus رحم armo pitié רַחֲמִים दया milosrđe kegyelem, irgalom belas kasihan miskunn pietà 慈悲 자비 gailestingumas, pasigailėjimas žēlsirdība; žēlastība belas kasihan genade barmhjertighet, medlidenhet łaska, litość piedade milă милосердие; пощада zľutovanie, súcit usmiljenje milosrđe barmhärtighet, förbarmande, nåd ความเมตตา merhamet 憐憫 милосердя رحم، ترس lòng nhân từ 怜悯
2 a piece of good luck or something for which one should be grateful It was a mercy that it didn't rain. genade نِعْمَه، بَرَكَه щастие štěstí held; velsignelse das Glück ευτύχημα suerte õnnistus لطف onni chance מַזָל कृपा, दया, रहम sreća szerencse kemujuran mildi, lán fortuna 幸運 하나님의 은총, 행운 laimė veiksme, laime mujur geluk hell, velsignelse, under szczęście sorte binecuvântare удача šťastie, šťastná náhoda, dar nebies sreča milost tur, välsignelse ความกรุณา şans, talih 幸運 милість مہربانی sự may mắn
adj merciful
willing to forgive or to punish only lightly a merciful judge. genadige رَحيم، رَؤوف милостив milosrdný barmhjertig barmherzig επιεικής, σπλαχνικός compasivo, clemente halastav بخشایشگر armelias miséricordieux, clément רַחוּם दयालु milosrdan irgalmas kemurahan hati miskunnsamur misericordioso, clemente 慈悲深い 자비로운 gailestingas žēlsirdīgs; žēlīgs belas kasihan genadig barmhjertig, nådig litościwy clemente milos, clement, indulgent милосердный milosrdný, súcitný milosten milostiv barmhärtig เปี่ยมด้วยความเมตตา merhametli 仁慈的 милосердний; співчутливий رحم دل khoan dung
adv mercifully
genadig بِرَحْمَه милостиво soucitně barmhjertigt barmherzig ευτυχώς compasivamente, con piedad halastavalt از روی بخشندگی armeliaasti miséricordieusement בְּרַחֲמִים दयापूर्वक milosrdno könyörületesen penuh belas kasihan miskunnsamlega misericordiosamente 情け深く 관대하게 gailestingai, laimei žēlsirdīgi; veiksmīgi, laimīgi dengan belas kasihan genadig barmhjertig, nådig litościwie com clemência cu milă милосердно súcitne, milosrdne milostno milostivo barmhärtigt อย่างเมตตา şans eseri, Allah'tan 仁慈地 милосердно; співчутливо رحم دلی سے vẻ nhân từ
adj merciless
without mercy; cruel merciless criticism. genadeloos عَديم الرَّحْمَه безмилостен nemilosrdný nådesløs unbarmherzig άσπλαχνος, αμείλικτος despiadado halastamatu بی رحم säälimätön impitoyable חֲסַר רַחֲמִים कठोर nemilosrdan irgalmatlan kejam miskunnarlaus spietato 無慈悲な 무자비한 negailestingas nežēlīgs; bargs tanpa belas kasihan genadeloos nådeløs, skånselløs, ubarmhjertig bezlitosny sem piedade nemilos безжалостный nemilosrdný, neúprosný neusmiljen nemilosrdan obarmhärtig ไร้ความปราณี acımasız 冷酷無情的 безжалісний; немилосердний بے رحم nhẫn tâm
adv mercilessly
genadeloos بِدون رَحْمَه безмилостно nemilosrdně nådesløst unbarmherzig ανηλεώς sin compasión, sin piedad armutult بی رحمانه säälimättä sans pitié לְלֹא רַחֲמִים निर्दयता से nemilosrdno irgalmatlanul dengan kejam miskunnarlaust in modo spietato 残酷に 무자비하게 negailestingai nežēlīgi; bargi dengan tanpa belas kasihan genadeloos nådeløst, ubarmhjertig bezlitośnie impiedosamente fără milă безжалостно nemilosrdne, neúprosne neusmiljeno nemilosrdno obarmhärtigt อย่างไร้ความปราณี acımasızca 冷酷無情地 безжалісно; немилосердно بے رحمی سے một cách nhẫn tâm
at the mercy of
wholly in the power of, liable to be harmed by A sailor is at the mercy of the sea. onderworpe aan تَحْتَ رَحْمَة подвластен съм vydaný na milost i nogens magt auf Gnade und Ungnade ausgeliefert sein στο έλεος a merced de meelevallas در اختیار دستخوش armoilla à la merci de נָתוּן לְחַסדֵי- के वश में na milost (vki, vmi) szeszélyének kiszolgáltatva di bawah kekuasaan á valdi (e-s) (in balia di), (alla mercé di) ~のなすがままに ...의 처분(마음)대로 ko valioje, visiškai priklausomas kāda varā di bawah kekuasaan in de macht van prisgitt, i ens makt na łasce à mercê de în voia (...) во власти vydaný na milosť na milost in nemilost u milosti i ngns (ngts) våld ภายใต้การควบคุมของ insafına kalmış 任憑...的擺布 у чиїйсь владі کسی کے رحم و کرم پر phó mặc cho ...
have mercy on
to give kindness to (an enemy etc who is in one's power) Have mercy on me! wees genadig يَرأف، يَرْحَم пощадявам mít soucit s vise barmhjertighed mod; have barmhjertighed med Gnade haben mit λυπούμαι, αισθάνομαι οίκτο tener piedad, tener compasión halastama مرحمت داشتن sääliä avoir pitié de לְרַחֵם עַל- smiluj se megkönyörül vkin mengasihani sÿna miskunn avere pietà di ~をあわれむ 자비를 베풀다 pasigailėti apžēloties mengasihani zich ontfermen over ha medlidenhet med, være nådig zlitować się ter de a avea milă de пощадить mať súcit s usmiliti se koga imati milosti förbarma sig över กรุณา merhamet etmek 對...表示憐憫 щадити, милувати رحم کرنا، ترس کھانا ban ơn ...怜悯

mercy رحمة soucit nåde Erbarmen οίκτος misericordia armo clémence milost misericordia 慈悲 자비 genade barmhjertighet litość piedade милосердие nåd ความเมตตา merhamet sự khoan dung 宽恕


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Well, he should have been thankful for small mercies - at least he hadn't put it through the car-wash.
 
 
 
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