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wills - 5 dictionary results

Wills

[wilz]
–noun
Helen New⋅ing⋅ton [noo-ing-tuhn, nyoo-] , born 1906, U.S. tennis player.

will

2[wil] noun, verb, willed, will⋅ing.
–noun
1. the faculty of conscious and especially of deliberate action; the power of control the mind has over its own actions: the freedom of the will.
2. power of choosing one's own actions: to have a strong or a weak will.
3. the act or process of using or asserting one's choice; volition: My hands are obedient to my will.
4. wish or desire: to submit against one's will.
5. purpose or determination, often hearty or stubborn determination; willfulness: to have the will to succeed.
6. the wish or purpose as carried out, or to be carried out: to work one's will.
7. disposition, whether good or ill, toward another.
8. Law.
a. a legal declaration of a person's wishes as to the disposition of his or her property or estate after death, usually written and signed by the testator and attested by witnesses.
b. the document containing such a declaration.
–verb (used with object)
9. to decide, bring about, or attempt to effect or bring about by an act of the will: He can walk if he wills it.
10. to purpose, determine on, or elect, by an act of will: If he wills success, he can find it.
11. to give or dispose of (property) by a will or testament; bequeath or devise.
12. to influence by exerting will power: She was willed to walk the tightrope by the hypnotist.
–verb (used without object)
13. to exercise the will: To will is not enough, one must do.
14. to decide or determine: Others debate, but the king wills.
15. at will,
a. at one's discretion or pleasure; as one desires: to wander at will through the countryside.
b. at one's disposal or command.

Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME will(e), OE will(a); c. D wil, G Wille, ON vili, Goth wilja; (v.) ME willen, OE willian to wish, desire, deriv. of the n.; akin to will 1


willer, noun


3. choice. 4. pleasure, disposition, inclination. 5. resolution, decision. Will, volition refer to conscious choice as to action or thought. Will denotes fixed and persistent intent or purpose: Where there's a will there's a way. Volition is the power of forming an intention or the incentive for using the will: to exercise one's volition in making a decision. 9. determine. 11. leave.

Will

[wil]
–noun
a male given name, form of William.
will 1   (wĭl)   
n.  
    1. The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action: championed freedom of will against a doctrine of predetermination.
    2. The act of exercising the will.
    3. Diligent purposefulness; determination: an athlete with the will to win.
    4. Self-control; self-discipline: lacked the will to overcome the addiction.
    5. A legal declaration of how a person wishes his or her possessions to be disposed of after death.
    6. A legally executed document containing this declaration.
    1. Diligent purposefulness; determination: an athlete with the will to win.
    2. Self-control; self-discipline: lacked the will to overcome the addiction.
    3. A legal declaration of how a person wishes his or her possessions to be disposed of after death.
    4. A legally executed document containing this declaration.
  1. A desire, purpose, or determination, especially of one in authority: It is the sovereign's will that the prisoner be spared.
  2. Deliberate intention or wish: Let it be known that I took this course of action against my will.
  3. Free discretion; inclination or pleasure: wandered about, guided only by will.
  4. Bearing or attitude toward others; disposition: full of good will.
    1. A legal declaration of how a person wishes his or her possessions to be disposed of after death.
    2. A legally executed document containing this declaration.
v.   willed, will·ing, wills

v.   tr.
  1. To decide on; choose.
  2. To yearn for; desire: "She makes you will your own destruction" (George Bernard Shaw).
  3. To decree, dictate, or order.
  4. To resolve with a forceful will; determine.
  5. To induce or try to induce by sheer force of will: We willed the sun to come out.
  6. To grant in a legal will; bequeath.
v.   intr.
  1. To exercise the will.
  2. To make a choice; choose.

[Middle English, from Old English willa; see wel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Wills   (wĭlz)   
American tennis player who was the dominant woman player in the 1920s and 1930s.
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