What's the difference between please and pledge?

Please


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To give pleasure to; to excite agreeable sensations or emotions in; to make glad; to gratify; to content; to satisfy.
  • (v. t.) To have or take pleasure in; hence, to choose; to wish; to desire; to will.
  • (v. t.) To be the will or pleasure of; to seem good to; -- used impersonally.
  • (v. i.) To afford or impart pleasure; to excite agreeable emotions.
  • (v. i.) To have pleasure; to be willing, as a matter of affording pleasure or showing favor; to vouchsafe; to consent.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) I can see you use humour as a defence mechanism, so in return I could just tell you that if he's massively rich or famous and you've decided you'll put up with it to please him, you'll eventually discover it's not worth it.
  • (2) We are pleased to see the process moving forward and look forward to its resolution,” a Target spokeswoman, Molly Snyder, said in an emailed statement.
  • (3) The prerequisite for all champions is the refusal to cave in, so City's equaliser with only three minutes remaining was pleasing.
  • (4) When Vladimir Putin kicks back on New Year's Eve with a glass of Russian-made champagne, and reflects on the year behind him, he is likely to feel rather pleased with himself at the way his foreign policy initiatives have gone in 2013.
  • (5) Chikavu Nyirenda, a leading political analyst, said: "She neglected to look at the local scene but spent a lot of time to please the west and promote herself."
  • (6) 3.14pm BST 14 mins: It's quite a pleasing thing that, some 22 years after the passback rule was put in place, fans still applaud a player heading the ball back to the keeper.
  • (7) I am pleased with that but disappointed with the result.
  • (8) Speaking about the player, who scored crucial goals for England during qualification for the 2014 World Cup, Hodgson said: “Andros was unlucky to lose his place in the squad when he wasn’t getting a regular game and he’s gone to Newcastle, got a regular game, and done very well there.” Expressing his delight in being selected, Townsend tweeted: “Huge honour to be named in provisional England squad for the euros ... Will give my all over next few weeks to try to make final squad!” Hodgson also declared himself pleased to include Jordan Henderson, who returned to action for Liverpool in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion having been out since early April with damaged knee ligaments.
  • (9) This is a very nice drug and I’m sure Merck are feeling very pleased with themselves.” Matt Kennedy, who led the trial at Merck, said: “Today there are very limited therapeutic options available for people with Alzheimer’s disease, and those that exist provide only short-term improvement to the cognitive and functional symptoms.
  • (10) And he pleased the audience with an acknowledgement that social work is a tough job and social workers only human.
  • (11) [The prime minister] is very pleased we’ve been able to secure this arrangement.
  • (12) In the email King sets out ways jobcentre staff can catch out claimants, saying: "You should consider every doubt – if you are unsure then please conference with me."
  • (13) Angela Merkel says she's very pleased to accept the invitation to Davos, at a time when global economic growth is modest.
  • (14) Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Charles Antaki, he's here all week, try the Imodium.
  • (15) "This has been a challenging time for the BMJ but I am very pleased the panel has taken the view that we acted appropriately," said BMJ editor in chief, Dr Fiona Godlee.
  • (16) Two British throwers up there, it's unheard of, I'm pleased with where the sport's going."
  • (17) • If you have experiences relating to this story that you would like to share, please email us in confidence at inequality.project@theguardian.com
  • (18) As the embattled NHS chief executive was grilled in the televised hearing, committee member Valerie Vaz told him: "Please don't feel that this is a trial."
  • (19) Please, forgive me,” Choi Soon-sil, a cult leader’s daughter with a decades-long connection to Park, said through tears inside the Seoul prosecutor’s building, according to Yonhap news agency.
  • (20) "Really, really pleased," said the world silver medallist.

Pledge


Definition:

  • (n.) The transfer of possession of personal property from a debtor to a creditor as security for a debt or engagement; also, the contract created between the debtor and creditor by a thing being so delivered or deposited, forming a species of bailment; also, that which is so delivered or deposited; something put in pawn.
  • (n.) A person who undertook, or became responsible, for another; a bail; a surety; a hostage.
  • (n.) A hypothecation without transfer of possession.
  • (n.) Anything given or considered as a security for the performance of an act; a guarantee; as, mutual interest is the best pledge for the performance of treaties.
  • (n.) A promise or agreement by which one binds one's self to do, or to refrain from doing, something; especially, a solemn promise in writing to refrain from using intoxicating liquors or the like; as, to sign the pledge; the mayor had made no pledges.
  • (n.) A sentiment to which assent is given by drinking one's health; a toast; a health.
  • (n.) To deposit, as a chattel, in pledge or pawn; to leave in possession of another as security; as, to pledge one's watch.
  • (n.) To give or pass as a security; to guarantee; to engage; to plight; as, to pledge one's word and honor.
  • (n.) To secure performance of, as by a pledge.
  • (n.) To bind or engage by promise or declaration; to engage solemnly; as, to pledge one's self.
  • (n.) To invite another to drink, by drinking of the cup first, and then handing it to him, as a pledge of good will; hence, to drink the health of; to toast.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) She was clearly elected on a pledge not to cut school funding and that’s exactly what is happening,” Corbyn said.
  • (2) The green fund contributions already announced (which include a $3bn pledge by the US and a $1.5bn pledge by Japan revealed during the G20 summit) “show very clearly that if we want the emerging countries and the more fragile countries to participate in this global growth, we have to ... support them,” Hollande said.
  • (3) Federal judges who blocked the bans cited harsh rhetoric employed by Trump on the campaign trail , specifically a pledge to ban all Muslims from entering the US and support for giving priority to Christian refugees, as being reflective of the intent behind his travel ban.
  • (4) Under pressure from many backbenchers, he has tightened planning controls on windfarms and pledged to "roll back" green subsidies on bills, leading to fears of dwindling support for the renewables industry.
  • (5) It also pledged support to a veterans’ group that rejected a request by a gay, lesbian and bisexual group to march in the St Patrick’s Day parade in Boston.
  • (6) We simply do whatever nature needs and will work with anyone that wants to help wildlife.” His views might come as a surprise to some of the RSPB’s 1.1 million members, who would have been persuaded by its original pledge “to discourage the wanton destruction of birds”; they would equally have been a surprise to the RSPB’s detractors in the shooting world.
  • (7) We are prepared to be honest with people and say that we will all need to chip in a little more.” The party’s health spokesman, Norman Lamb, said: “The NHS was once the envy of the world and this pledge is the first step in restoring it to where it should be.
  • (8) Royal Mail has pledged not to give Greene a large pay rise until after the current financial year, but the government's move follows Royal Mail chairman Donald Brydon telling the Daily Telegraph this week that Greene was the "lowest-paid chief executive in the FTSE 100" and that a rise in her pay was necessary to keep her.
  • (9) Well one of the things we have in common is we produce a lot of carbon … which means we’ve got to step up.” In the backrooms of the G20 meeting, Australia was continuing to resist language in the official communique encouraging countries to make pledges to the Green Climate Fund , but to a rousing reception at a local university, Obama announced the $3bn US commitment.
  • (10) Tim Farron has pledged to fight the next general election on a platform of taking the UK back into Europe .
  • (11) And when you said the pledge of allegiance in the morning, you had to look at those flags.
  • (12) But Sainsbury attacked government attempts to secure further pledges as a "total waste of time" given Pfizer's record of breaking promises in past takeovers.
  • (13) In a telling moment, 17 editors of both state and private newspapers collectively pledged in November to avoid criticising the state.
  • (14) Fenway, which also owns the Boston Red Sox baseball team, bought Liverpool for £300m in 2010 and pledged to return the club to the top of English football, following what was then a 20-year gap since the club last won the top flight.
  • (15) China INDC This would be “a key” to success of the UN climate talks, a French diplomatic official said, because the current national pledges won’t be enough to achieve the goal of keeping the rise in global temperatures below 2C between pre-industrial times and the end of the century.
  • (16) Climate change is also high on protesters’ and politicians’ agendas, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, called for the industrial powers to throw their weight behind a longstanding pledge to seek $100bn (£65bn) to help poor countries tackle climate change, agreed in Copenhagen in 2009.
  • (17) The party has also pledged to ensure that the wealthy make a greater contribution by restoring the 50p higher rate of income tax.
  • (18) Abbott's comments on Wednesday morning followed a pledge from Yudhoyono on Tuesday night to restore normal bilateral relations if Australia signed up to a new code of ethics on intelligence sharing.
  • (19) The media mogul said he had spoken "very carefully under oath" at the Leveson inquiry on Wednesday, when he had said that Brown had pledged to "declare war" on his company in a phone call made at around the time the Sun came out in support of the Conservative party, on 30 September of that year.
  • (20) "He has pledged to push for devolution of power to the north and east, and has said that the solution to the national question must have the agreement of all parties."