Nearby Words

behest

[bih-hest] Example Sentences Origin

be·hest

[bih-hest]
noun
1.
a command or directive.
2.
an earnest or strongly worded request.

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


1. order, bidding, decree, dictate, mandate.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Behest is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Example Sentences
  • But courts should not be making law at the behest of big companies.
  • And these men themselves are at pains to stress that they negotiate at his behest.
  • In health care, research is often performed at the behest of companies that have a large financial stake in the results.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
behest (bɪˈhɛst)
 
n
an authoritative order or earnest request
 
[Old English behǣs, from behātan; see be-, hest]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

behest
O.E. behæs "a vow," perhaps from behatan "to promise" (from be- + hatan "command, call;" see cite) and confused with obsolete hest "command," which may account for the parasitic -t as well as the M.E. shift in meaning to "command, injunction" (late 12c.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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