behest

Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.

be·hest

(bĭ-hĕst′)

1. An authoritative command.

2. An urgent request: I called the office at the behest of my assistant.

[Middle English bihest, vow, from Old English behǣs; see keiə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

behest

(bɪˈhɛst)

an authoritative order or earnest request

[Old English behǣs, from behātan; see be-, hest]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

be•hest

(bɪˈhɛst)

n.

1. a command; directive.

2. an earnest request.

[before 1000; Middle English bihest(e), Old English behǣs promise. See be-, hest]

behest

, request - Behest is a stronger term than request.

behest

noun

at someone's behest at someone's command, by someone's order, at someone's demand, at someone's wish, by someone's decree, at someone's bidding, at someone's instruction, by someone's mandate, at someone's dictate, at someone's commandment He did it at his wife's behest.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

behest

noun

An authoritative indication to be obeyed:

bidding, charge, command, commandment, dictate, direction, directive, injunction, instruction (often used in plural), mandate, order, word.

Translations

behest

[bɪˈhest] N (frm) at his behest → a petición suya

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

behest

[bɪˈhɛst] n
at sb's behest, at the behest of sb → sur l'ordre de qn

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

behest

n (liter) → Geheiß nt (liter); at his behest/the behest of his uncle → auf sein Geheiß (liter) → /auf Geheiß seines Onkels (liter)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

behest

[bɪˈhɛst] n at his behest → su suo ordine

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

I would much rather not have told her anything of my antecedents, but no man could look into the depth of those eyes and refuse her slightest behest.

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For the first time there was a whimper in his throat; but it was not the whimper of fear, nor of pain, but of outrage, and of desire to continue the battle which he struggled to control at Skipper's behest.

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``Thou bearest an English heart, Locksley,'' said the Black Knight, ``and well dost judge thou art the more bound to obey my behest I am Richard of England!''

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But it is an error to suppose that our great forefathers -- though accustomed to speak and think of human existence as a state merely of trial and warfare, and though unfeignedly prepared to sacrifice goods and life at the behest of duty -- made it a matter of conscience to reject such means of comfort, or even luxury, as lay fairly within their grasp.

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I had received no thanks for my other service; and being unwilling to run to and fro at his behest, I replied - 'Nobody is out there but Joseph.'

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And, as I obeyed that last behest with all my might, without a thought of what I was doing, save that he bade me do it, I saw his hands shoot up and his head bob down, and his lithe, spare body cut the sunset as cleanly and precisely as though he had plunged at his leisure from a diver's board!

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I did his behest. The company all stared at me as I passed straight among them.

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And so, obedient to her son's behest, the old woman hobbled off to the palace, and, without being hindered, reached the courtyard, and began to mount the flight of steps leading to the royal presence chamber.

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"Open the window, and see if he is not." She pushed me in that direction; yet, no sooner did I make a movement to obey her behest than she burst into laughter, and I remained beside her, and she embraced me.

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Did not her mighty messenger, the ancient Iss, bear you upon her leaden bosom at your own behest to the Valley Dor?

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Who are these people at whose instigation Duson was to have murdered you - these people whom Duson feared so much that suicide was his only alternative to obeying their behests?"

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Thereon they would have hacked at one another in close combat with their swords, had not heralds, messengers of gods and men, come forward, one from the Trojans and the other from the Achaeans--Talthybius and Idaeus both of them honourable men; these parted them with their staves, and the good herald Idaeus said, "My sons, fight no longer, you are both of you valiant, and both are dear to Jove; we know this; but night is now falling, and the behests of night may not be well gainsaid."

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