¹plight

verb \ˈplīt\

Definition of PLIGHT

transitive verb

: to put or give in pledge : engage <plight his troth>

— plight·er noun

See plight defined for English-language learners

See plight defined for kids

Origin of PLIGHT

Middle English, from Old English plihtan to endanger, from pliht danger; akin to Old English plēon to expose to danger, Old High German pflegan to take care of

First Known Use: 13th century

Rhymes with PLIGHT

bight, bite, blight, bright, byte, cite, dight, dite, fight, flight, fright, height, hight, kite, knight, krait, kyte, light, lite, might, mite, night, quite, right, rite, sight, site, sleight, slight, smite, spite, sprite, tight, trite, white, wight, wite, wright, write

²plight

noun \ˈplīt\

Definition of PLIGHT

: a solemnly given pledge : engagement

Origin of PLIGHT

(see ¹plight)

First Known Use: 13th century

³plight

noun \ˈplīt\

Definition of PLIGHT

: an unfortunate, difficult, or precarious situation

Examples of PLIGHT

Huckelberry decided to use the owl's plight as the impetus to craft a comprehensive conservation plan. —Terry McCarthy, Time, 4 Apr. 2005
It's a sign of where the health-care debate has gone that truly big dilemmas—like the plight of the 42.6 million people still uninsured or the future of Medicare—are taking a back seat to what was only recently a relatively minor campaign issue. —Jonathan Alter, Newsweek, 9 Oct. 2000
New political arrangements helped do in both Uruguay and New Zealand, and behind those arrangements are the plights of western Europe's old agricultural supply regions, especially those of France. —Jane Jacobs, Cities and the Wealth of Nations, 1984
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Origin of PLIGHT

Middle English plight, plit danger, condition, in part from Old English pliht; in part from Anglo-French plit, pleit, pli condition, plight, literally, bending, fold — more at plait

First Known Use: 13th century

PLIGHT Defined for Kids

plight

noun \ˈplīt\

Definition of PLIGHT for Kids

: a bad condition or state : predicament <There really seemed to be no means of escape, and … they realized their helpless plight … — L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz>