pleasure

plural pleasures

1. uncountableA state of being pleased or contented; gratification.

   He remembered with pleasure his home and family.

   3 more examples

   I get a lot of pleasure from watching others work hard while I relax.

   But the only statistic that will concern West Brom will be the scoreline, and their manager Roy Hodgson will take considerable pleasure from a victory over the club he managed for just 191 days.

   2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport

   Maximize all the pleasure / Even with all this weather / Nothing can make it better / Maximize all the pleasure

   2019, Toro y Moi, “Ordinary Pleasure”, in Outer Peace

   Synonyms: delight, gladness, gratification, happiness, indulgence, satisfaction · Antonyms: displeasure, pain

2. countableA person, thing or action that causes enjoyment.

   It was a pleasure to meet you.

   4 more examples

   Having a good night's sleep is one of life's little pleasures.

   Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 25:9

   The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;[…]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. […]

   2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19

   Synonyms: delight, joy, kick

3. uncountableSexual enjoyment.
4. uncountableOne's preference.

   What is your pleasure: coffee or tea?

   Synonyms: desire, fancy, want, will, wish

5. formaluncountableThe will or desire of someone or some agency in power.

   at Congress's pleasure: whenever or as long as Congress desires

   4 more examples

   to hold an office at pleasure: to hold it indefinitely until it is revoked

   to be imprisoned at Her Majesty's pleasure: to be imprisoned indefinitely

   Use your pleasure; if your love do not persuade you to come, let not my letter.

   c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

   He will do his pleasure on Babylon.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 48:14

   Synonyms: discretion

1. pleased to meet you, "It's my pleasure"

present singular third person pleasures · participle present pleasuring · participle past pleasured · past pleasured

1. transitiveTo give or afford pleasure to.

   [H]e / [...] / Had tost his ball and flown his kite, and roll'd / His hoop to pleasure Edith, [...]

   1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 55

   Synonyms: please, gratify

2. transitiveTo give sexual pleasure to.

   Johnny pleasured Jackie with his mouth last night.

   1 more example

   In the opening scene, Rupert Campbell-Black (played by Alex Hassell), the gravitational center of Cooper’s world, is seen pleasuring a woman in the bathroom of a Concorde jet, thrusting so vigorously that she hardly notices when the plane goes supersonic.

   2024 November 28, Sophie Gilbert, “The Silliest, Sexiest Show of the Year”, in The Atlantic

3. datedintransitiveTo take pleasure; to seek or pursue pleasure.

   to go pleasuring