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expostulate - 5 dictionary results

ex⋅pos⋅tu⋅late

  [ik-spos-chuh-leyt]
Use expostulate in a Sentence
–verb (used without object), -lat⋅ed, -lat⋅ing.
to reason earnestly with someone against something that person intends to do or has done; remonstrate: His father expostulated with him about the evils of gambling.
Origin:
1525–35; < L expostulātus demanded urgently, required (ptp. of expostulāre). See ex- 1 , postulate

Related forms:
ex⋅pos⋅tu⋅lat⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
ex⋅pos⋅tu⋅la⋅tor, noun

Synonyms:
dispute, argue, protest; exhort, counsel.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To expostulate
ex·pos·tu·late   (ĭk-spŏs'chə-lāt')   
intr.v.   ex·pos·tu·lat·ed, ex·pos·tu·lat·ing, ex·pos·tu·lates
To reason earnestly with someone in an effort to dissuade or correct; remonstrate. See Synonyms at object.

[Latin expostulāre, expostulāt- : ex-, intensive pref.; see ex- + postulāre, to demand; see prek- in Indo-European roots.]
ex·pos'tu·la'tion n., ex·pos'tu·la'tor n., ex·pos'tu·la·to'ry (-lə-tôr'ē, -tōr'ē), ex·pos'tu·la'tive adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Expostulate

Ex*pos"tu*late\ (?; 135), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Expostulated; p. pr. & vb. n. Expostulating.] [L. expostulatus, p. p. of expostulare to demand vehemently; ex out + postulare to ask, require. See Postulate.] To reason earnestly with a person on some impropriety of his conduct, representing the wrong he has done or intends, and urging him to make redress or to desist; to remonstrate; -- followed by with.

Men expostulate with erring friends; they bring accusations against enemies who have done them a wrong. --Jowett (Thuc. ).

Syn: To remonstrate; reason. See Remonstrate.

Expostulate

Ex*pos"tu*late\, v. t. To discuss; to examine. [Obs.]

To expostulate What majesty should be, what duty is. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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expostulate 
c.1534, "to demand, to claim," from L. expostulatus, pp. of expostulare "to demand urgently, remonstrate," from ex- intensive prefix + postulare "to demand." Friendlier sense is first recorded in Eng. 1574.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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