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pleasure
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
pleasure
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a pleasure boat (=a small boat that people use on a lake, river etc)
a thrill of excitement/anticipation/pleasure
▪ As the plane took off, she felt a thrill of excitement.
alight with excitement/pleasure/laughter etc
▪ Jed’s face was alight with excitement.
be a sight/joy/pleasure etc to behold
▪ The beauty of the garden was a pleasure to behold.
bring sb pleasure/joy/pain/grief etc
▪ The decision brought him great relief.
combine business with pleasure (=work and enjoy yourself at the same time)
derive pleasure/enjoyment etc
▪ Many students derived enormous satisfaction from the course.
get pleasure from/out of sth
▪ She gets a lot of pleasure from her garden.
intense pleasure
▪ Anne read the letter with intense pleasure.
It gives me great pleasure (=I am very pleased)
▪ It gives me great pleasure to introduce tonight’s speaker.
mix business with pleasure (=combine business and social activities at the same time)
▪ I don’t like to mix business with pleasure.
pleasure boat
pleasure seeker
pure joy/pleasure/delight
▪ Lucinda flashed him a smile of pure joy.
sadistic pleasure
▪ He took sadistic pleasure in humiliating her.
sensual pleasure
▪ the sensual pleasure of good food
take delight/pleasure/pride etc in (doing) sth
▪ You should take pride in your work.
▪ At first, he took no interest in the baby.
the pleasures/desires/temptations of the flesh (=things such as drinking, eating a lot, or having sex)
vicarious pleasure/satisfaction/excitement etc
▪ the vicarious pleasure that parents get from their children’s success
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
great
▪ There's no greater pleasure than handing over money to a local supplier who helps make life easier.
▪ I have also seen with great pleasure an inter-change of historical pageants between various groups.
▪ Next morning the stage manager took great pleasure in informing them they had been to a women-only club.
▪ All of which makes discovering a restaurant like Celadon an even greater pleasure.
▪ When Sophie praised a necklet of rubies that she was wearing, it appeared to give him great pleasure.
▪ Rockefeller is said to have monitored the struggle at Ludlow with great pleasure.
▪ In contrast, the active-positive presidents derive great pleasure out of their work and believe that they can achieve their goals.
real
▪ And driving a motor caravan is a real pleasure with more than enough power to keep on going.
▪ One story, which Kay Collins tells with real pleasure, has to do with a quarrel between a husband and wife.
▪ Dining out is a real pleasure with a wide and tempting choice of menus and venues at a very affordable prices.
▪ It was a real pleasure to win something for a change but unfortunately I don't like knitting.
▪ Well, Adolph, it certainly was a real pleasure to hear from you after all these years.
▪ The low cost of living makes such evenings a real pleasure.
▪ Robertson's 37 Bar An intimate, sociable pub with no distractions from the real pleasure of drink and talk.
sensual
▪ Danjit's Mars-tanned features smoothed in a sensual grimace of pleasure.
sheer
▪ In Budapest, they still strolled around for the sheer pleasure of it.
▪ However, more wine drinkers are consuming Pinot Noir these days, and the biggest reason is sheer pleasure.
▪ Dolphins have an impressive ability to imitate and learn, often apparently for the sheer pleasure of doing so.
▪ Far more people run or swim or kick a ball for sheer pleasure than ever before.
▪ He says it gives him pleasure, just sheer pleasure.
▪ The sheer pleasure of discovering other people's domestic arrangement stirred in her.
▪ This is sheer, unadulterated pleasure.
▪ The simplest relationship is the sheer pleasure of immediate consumption of an object which offers no resistance.
simple
▪ More volunteers would also allow the workers simple pleasures like a lunch break without feeling guilty.
▪ Then again, Cook is a man of relatively simple pleasures.
▪ It has survived many a crisis and witnessed many turbulent conflicts but today revels in simple pleasures and peaceful serenity.
▪ One of the simple pleasures of Great Groups is that they are almost never bureaucratic.
▪ I sing of simple pleasures: making music, dancing, friendship, work and fun.
▪ Where keeping house and cooking were not female chores but simple tasks of pleasure and survival.
▪ Now she is enjoying simple pleasures like a trip to the park again.
▪ It reads quickly, like the Diaz story, a simple, straight forward pleasure.
■ NOUN
boat
▪ It begins with scenes of Frank Spencer in his latest, shortlived job as the skipper of a pleasure boat.
▪ The only casualties I hear of are a couple of pleasure boats which dragged their moorings and were damaged on the shore.
▪ Music and voices came gusting from moored pleasure boats across the plum-red water.
▪ He saved twelve lives when a pleasure boat capsized in heavy surf at Corona del Mar in California in June 1925.
▪ These days, the Canal Basin bustles not with goods but with pleasure boats.
▪ Local environmentalists had speculated whether heavy pleasure boat and fishing craft use of the lake might have resulted in lead pollution.
▪ Local Activities: Walks, surfing, golf, diving, fishing, bird-watching, pleasure boat trips, sandy beaches.
▪ The contrast with today couldn't have been greater-we even took a pleasure boat over the same stretch of water.
principle
▪ Never had enough fun, thinks there's something endemically wrong with the pleasure principle.
▪ One found the pleasure principle at work again Saturday evening.
▪ These primary processes always seek pleasure and avoid pain, that is, they function according to the pleasure principle.
▪ The unconscious operates according to the pleasure principle alone - there are no values exercising restraint over instinctual impulses.
▪ The reality principle does not dethrone the pleasure principle, but rather safeguards it.
▪ The pleasure principle should motivate the programmes of study, and always be given high priority.
▪ The pleasure principle would then be seen as one form of the more fundamental Nirvana principle.
■ VERB
bring
▪ This being said, it hardly matters provided the tendency brings satisfaction and pleasure to the person, or persons, concerned.
▪ The red sun warmed him as it rose in the sky, and that brought him pleasure.
▪ He had brought pleasure by the bucketful to millions of people.
▪ Simple things that can be transformed through work into something that brings pleasure and satisfaction.
▪ Conversely, the focus to please one's partner brings personal pleasure proportionate with achieving the goal.
▪ I try to imagine what would have brought her pleasure and find again how little I know about her.
▪ Lester has brought pleasure to millions with his fine sportsmanship and personal bravery.
▪ Everything you mention brings me pleasure.
derive
▪ Poor girl, I suspected she would not derive much pleasure from that relationship.
▪ An inability to derive pleasure from doing things for others 14.
▪ Sadistic people derive perverse pleasure from the suffering of others and may seek out situations in which they can inflict this.
▪ To derive a little pleasure from his children.
▪ Second, to remove the standard dessert from the menu would penalise all those people who derive pleasure from conspicuous self-denial.
▪ In contrast, the active-positive presidents derive great pleasure out of their work and believe that they can achieve their goals.
▪ Of course, we can be alone and derive pleasure from it.
▪ Some women derive intense pleasure from it, others less and some none at all.
enjoy
▪ What you must do now is enjoy gentle pleasure.
▪ She enjoyed so many bourgeois pleasures, and yet she loathed the thought of settling for them.
▪ She can only be the other for some man, can only vicariously enjoy his phallic pleasure at being the whole.
▪ But let's enjoy the pleasure of waiting.
▪ They enjoyed sophisticated pleasures, less constrained than elsewhere, which seemed to purists appallingly perverse.
▪ But some, it seemed, enjoyed the pleasures Of looking at the royal treasures.
▪ Slowly but surely, we can help them reach out and start enjoying the pleasures of playing with a friend.
feel
▪ Now suddenly she could feel the pleasure such imaginings had aroused uncurling in a warm spiral in the pit of her stomach.
▪ The other feels his own pleasure, and is a lot more fun.
▪ He feels the piquant double pleasure of the secret millionaire who has won everyone's heart even in apparent poverty.
▪ Human creatures under the warm shadows of skyscrapers feeling the heavy pleasure of their nature, and yielding.
▪ Holly had felt pleasure, allowed it to cocoon him.
▪ But it need not be conscious to do so, nor does it need to feel pain or pleasure.
▪ I knew I was on the right track when I felt that thrill of pleasure at placing object, not painting it.
▪ But no collection of physical lumps can add up to even one simple and momentary feeling of pleasure.
find
▪ The warm familiarity was back, and they appeared to find pleasure and amusement in each other's company.
▪ They always seem intent on involvement in the situation and find pleasure and enjoyment in analyzing relationships of others.
▪ I believe that music-lovers are deluded when they claim to find artistic pleasure in any but a fraction of this music.
▪ Could I have found one pleasure greater than the next?
▪ Ana seemed to find pleasure in simply listening, though.
▪ They could not find lasting zest and pleasure in their success and eventually had given up hope of ever finding it.
▪ Any normal man would find it a pleasure just to sit still and look at her, drinking her in.
▪ One found the pleasure principle at work again Saturday evening.
flush
▪ She is gesturing and smiling, her cheeks flushed with pleasure that there is so much to offer.
▪ The two women flanking her were flushed with pleasure and excitement.
give
▪ It gave me a great deal of pleasure to think how much more pained he was going to be in a few moments.
▪ Yet somehow it had survived, and it gave me pleasure.
▪ They will give you such pleasure and satisfaction.
▪ That thought had given her pleasure.
▪ The clean, light surfaces, among the dingy, sooty walls, gave him pleasure.
▪ It would give the old man pleasure.
▪ But everything that gives pleasure and makes money is not an art or a science.
glow
▪ Midge was glowing with pleasure and pride at the return of her beloved John and Angela.
▪ She laughed, and her eyes glowed with the pleasure of her discovery.
▪ Bates himself was warm and genial, and his cohorts were having such a good time that their faces glowed with pleasure.
mix
▪ No wonder our passengers are often reluctant to mix business with pleasure.
▪ I didn't want to mix business with pleasure ... I won't go out seriously with anyone from the company.
▪ Still, learn from experience: and the moral of this story is: don't mix business with pleasure.
▪ Never mix work with pleasure is always a good policy in work and personal relationships.
▪ If you can mix business with pleasure, so much better.
read
▪ He read it with less pleasure ... Please arrange immediately for alternative methods of waking the men under your command.
▪ But still, underneath the words of disapproval, I read the pleasure and the pride in his eyes.
▪ To listen to music and read for the pure pleasure of reading.
▪ In reading one had a pleasure of which, like sleep, one could never be deprived.
▪ Coleman's lectures can be read even today with pleasure as well as interest.
▪ All parents hope their child will enjoy reading for the pleasure of it.
▪ Connections in Reading A &038; B encourage pre-intermediate students to read for pleasure and develop their reading skills.
▪ There will also be reading for personal pleasure and reading to share pleasure.
take
▪ Her hand was moving toward his waist, taking its slow pleasure with him.
▪ Sheisshaus took his pleasures in the midst of Herr Von Diesel's cuckoo-clock collection.
▪ Indeed, some individuals are quite impervious to cultural incentives, or even take pleasure in flouting them.
▪ Critics take pleasure in focusing on shortcomings and ignoring strengths.
▪ I took the keenest pleasure in expelling Phetlock from my old office, two doors down from the Oval.
▪ While I am still free, I am at liberty to take my pleasure when I choose.
watch
▪ Gib Sparling had his ham and eggs, and Scruffy the pleasure of watching somebody else peel spuds.
▪ It was a pleasure to watch her move.
▪ He is a pleasure to watch.
▪ Frankly, it was a pleasure to watch those funds switch toward rebuilding the civilian infrastructure instead.
▪ Obviously there is pleasure in watching Hollywood recognise intelligent life in the typing pool.
▪ Even to her inexperienced eyes it was clear he was no beginner, and frankly it was a pleasure to watch him.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a glow of pleasure/satisfaction/happiness etc
▪ Harry felt a glow of pleasure - not least because his darling Alice was making such an obvious success of her career.
▪ He looked fantastic and had actually acquired quite a suntan - or was it just a glow of happiness?
▪ Shamlou experienced a glow of satisfaction.
an unmitigated disaster/failure/pleasure etc
▪ On health and safety issues, however, deregulation has been an unmitigated disaster.
▪ She had to admit that he would almost certainly not see the situation as an unmitigated disaster.
▪ So far, the tour had been an unmitigated disaster.
▪ The raid itself was an unmitigated disaster.
▪ What is happening in Assam is an unmitigated disaster.
find comfort/pleasure/fulfilment etc in sth
▪ Ana seemed to find pleasure in simply listening, though.
▪ But we did find comfort in knowing the food was there.
▪ Dorothy Wordsworth found fulfilment in ways that elude precise analysis.
▪ He glanced at Rock Hardy, finding comfort in the familiar face. 5.03 already!
▪ I could only hope to be happy, and find comfort in the hope, as people do, wherever they are.
▪ They learned to tolerate loneliness, and find comfort in people, fantasies or activities outside the family.
▪ They tried to find comfort in knowing they had done their best.
flushed with success/excitement/pleasure etc
▪ His face was flushed with excitement when they came.
▪ She is gesturing and smiling, her cheeks flushed with pleasure that there is so much to offer.
▪ The two women flanking her were flushed with pleasure and excitement.
glow with pride/joy/pleasure etc
▪ Bates himself was warm and genial, and his cohorts were having such a good time that their faces glowed with pleasure.
▪ Chest out, glowing with pride we return to base with labrador on lap and conversation stilted.
▪ Midge was glowing with pleasure and pride at the return of her beloved John and Angela.
▪ She glowed with pride at a graduation honor he received.
▪ The President glowed with pride and a sense of accomplishment after this masterstroke of personal diplomacy.
the dubious honour/distinction/pleasure (of doing sth)
▪ I therefore inherited the dubious honour of making it available on loan to youth workers.
▪ Mr Edmond has the dubious honour of being tried by the District of Columbia's first anonymous jury.
▪ Sarah, left alone, had the dubious distinction of being the last of all the Titfords in Frome.
unholy amusement/delight/pleasure
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ A really good game of basketball is a pleasure to watch.
▪ Are you taking the trip for business or pleasure?
▪ Cooper took obvious pleasure in announcing the merger.
▪ Her singing has given pleasure to so many people over the years.
▪ His French was excellent, and he took pleasure in speaking it.
▪ His music has brought pleasure to people all over the world.
▪ I don't very often read for pleasure.
▪ I noticed with pleasure how much happier he seemed.
▪ Most craftsmen get a lot of pleasure out of making things.
▪ My father always got a lot of pleasure from being with his grandchildren.
▪ One of her greatest pleasures was walking in the mountains.
▪ Ted enjoyed the simple pleasures of life: his family, his home, and his garden.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ I have said before that one of the most appealing things about this boy was the pleasure that he took in drawing.
▪ In fact they've been instrumental in providing some of the greatest pleasures in my life to date.
▪ In our headlong pursuit to acquire wealth and worldly pleasures, Christians have become virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the world.
▪ Still, the thought gave me quite a jolt of pleasure.
▪ The pleasure of having a vote is that I can exercise my own opinion.
▪ Walking, or just standing still, had become a pleasure.
▪ When she woke in the morning, it was to clear blue skies, and she gave a sigh of pleasure.
Related phrases:
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pleasure

Pleasure \Pleas"ure\, n. [F. plaisir, originally an infinitive. See Please.]

  1. The gratification of the senses or of the mind; agreeable sensations or emotions; the excitement, relish, or happiness produced by the expectation or the enjoyment of something good, delightful, or satisfying; -- opposed to pain, sorrow, etc.

    At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
    --Ps. xvi. 11.

  2. Amusement; sport; diversion; self-indulgence; frivolous or dissipating enjoyment; hence, sensual gratification; -- opposed to labor, service, duty, self-denial, etc. ``Not sunk in carnal pleasure.''
    --Milton.

    He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man.
    --Prov. xxi. 17.

    Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.
    --2 Tim. iii. 4.

  3. What the will dictates or prefers as gratifying or satisfying; hence, will; choice; wish; purpose. ``He will do his pleasure on Babylon.''
    --Isa. xlviii. 1

  4. Use your pleasure; if your love do not presuade you to come, let not my letter.
    --Shak.

    4. That which pleases; a favor; a gratification.
    --Shak.

    Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure
    --Acts xxv. 9.

    At pleasure, by arbitrary will or choice.
    --Dryden.

    To take pleasure in, to have enjoyment in.
    --Ps. cxlvii. 11.

    Note: Pleasure is used adjectively, or in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, pleasure boat, pleasure ground; pleasure house, etc.

    Syn: Enjoyment; gratification; satisfaction; comfort; solace; joy; gladness; delight; will; choice; preference; purpose; command; favor; kindness.

Pleasure

Pleasure \Pleas"ure\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pleasured; p. pr. & vb. n. Pleasuring.] To give or afford pleasure to; to please; to gratify.
--Shak.

[Rolled] his hoop to pleasure Edith.
--Tennyson.

Pleasure

Pleasure \Pleas"ure\, v. i. To take pleasure; to seek pursue pleasure; as, to go pleasuring.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
pleasure

late 14c., "condition of enjoyment," from Old French plesir, also plaisir "enjoyment, delight, desire, will" (12c.), from noun use of infinitive plaisir (v.) "to please," from Latin placere "to please, give pleasure, be approved" (see please (v.)). Ending altered in English 14c. by influence of words in -ure (measure, etc.). Meaning "sensual enjoyment as the chief object of life" is attested from 1520s.

pleasure

1530s, "to take pleasure in;" 1550s as "give pleasure to," from pleasure (n.). Sexual sense by 1610s. Related: Pleasured; pleasuring.

Wiktionary
pleasure

interj. pleased to meet you n. (context uncountable English) A state of being pleased. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To give or afford pleasure to; to please; to gratify. 2 (context transitive English) to give pleasure (especially sexual pleasure) to 3 (context intransitive dated English) To take pleasure; to seek or pursue pleasure.

Related phrases:
WordNet
pleasure

  1. n. a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience; "he was tingling with pleasure" [syn: pleasance] [ant: pain]

  2. something or someone that provides pleasure; a source of happiness; "a joy to behold"; "the pleasure of his company"; "the new car is a delight" [syn: joy, delight]

  3. a formal expression; "he serves at the pleasure of the President"

  4. an activity that affords enjoyment; "he puts duty before pleasure"

  5. sexual gratification; "he took his pleasure of her"

Related phrases:
Gazetteer
Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Pleasure

Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria. The early psychological account of pleasure, the pleasure principle, describes it as a positive feedback mechanism, motivating the organism to recreate in the future the situation which it has just found pleasurable and to avoid situations that have caused pain in the past.

The experience of pleasure is subjective and different individuals will experience different kinds and amounts of pleasure in the same situation. Many pleasurable experiences are associated with satisfying basic biological drives, such as eating, exercise, hygiene, and sex. The appreciation of cultural artifacts and activities such as art, music, dancing, and literature is often pleasurable.

Based upon the incentive salience model of reward – the attractive and motivational property of a stimulus that induces approach behavior and consummatory behavior – an intrinsic reward has two components: a "wanting" or desire component which is reflected in approach behavior and a "liking" or pleasure component that is reflected in consummatory behavior. While all pleasurable stimuli are rewards, some rewards do not evoke pleasure (e.g. money).

Pleasure (Norwegian band)

Pleasure is a Norwegian funky pop band, led by Fred Ball. One single was released in 2003, "Don't Look The Other Way", which featured Justine Frischmann (former lead singer for Elastica) on vocals.

Pleasure (EP)

Pleasure EP was the first release by rock band Semisonic. It was originally released in 1995 and later re-released following the success of their song " Closing Time". The title refers to the band's original name, Pleasure.

Pleasure (album)

Pleasure is the third studio album by the Ohio Players and the second released through the Westbound label.

Pleasure (disambiguation)

Pleasure is an experience of happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, or euphoria.

Pleasure may also refer to:

Pleasure (American band)

Pleasure was a band from Portland, Oregon that blended soul, funk and jazz with a street edge that became a cult group on the underground black music scene of the late 70's. They are perhaps best known for their 1979 hit, "Glide" from the album Future Now.

Pleasure (2013 film)

Pleasure is a 2013 Swedish short film that won the "Semaine de la Critique" also known as the Canal + Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Ninja Thyberg the film tells the story of a girl Marie (played by Jenny Hutton) who agrees to perform a double-anal sex scene in a hard porn video so she will not lose her job. The short film also tells about the darker side of the porn industry. By winning the award the film will be broadcast on Canal + in France.

Pleasure (1931 film)

Pleasure is a 1931 American Pre-Code romantic drama film, directed by Otto Brower. It stars Conway Tearle, Carmel Myers, and Frances Dade.

Pleasure (Marion Meadows album)

Pleasure is the fifth album by Marion Meadows, released in 1998.

Pleasure (Girls at Our Best! album)

Pleasure is the sole studio album by Girls at Our Best!, released in 1981 by Happy Birthday Records. It reached No. 60 in the UK Albums Chart.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "pleasure".

Then grew Ralph shamefaced and turned away from her, and miscalled himself for a fool and a dastard that could not abide the pleasure of his lady at the very place whereto she had let lead him.

But this knight hath no affairs to look to: so if he will abide with us for a little, it will be our pleasure.

I have expiated with pleasure on the first steps of the crusaders, as they paint the manners and character of Europe: but I shall abridge the tedious and uniform narrative of their blind achievements, which were performed by strength and are described by ignorance.

It has been subsequently held many times that municipal corporations are mere instrumentalities of the State for the more convenient administration of local governments, whose powers may be enlarged, abridged, or entirely withdrawn at the pleasure of the legislature.

Fred were in the habit of sexually and sadistically abusing young girls in the cellar of their house for their joint pleasure.

It was not at the agonized contortions and posturing of the wretched boy that he was shocked, but at the cosmic obscenity of these beings which could drag to light the abysmal secrets that sleep in the unfathomed darkness of the human soul, and find pleasure in the brazen flaunting of such things as should not be hinted at, even in restless nightmares.

In spite of all these considerations, I felt a sort of pleasure in accepting for ready cash all the counterfeit coins that she had spread out before me.

The supper must take place, it will be a pleasure for me, but let me confess that in accepting it I have shewn myself more grateful than polite.

Sunday was a day for pleasure and not business he hoped I would honour them by passing the day at their pretty house on the Amstel, and they were delighted at my accepting their invitation.

Go and ask Mengs, and tell the ambassador that I have much pleasure in accepting his invitation.

She ached to be outside in the fresh air, to be dressed in her oldest jeans, turning over spades full of soft loamy earth, feeling the excitement and pleasure of siting the bulbs, of allowing her imagination to paint for her the colourful picture they would make in the spring, in their uniform beds set among lawn pathways and bordered by a long deep border of old-fashioned perennial plants.

My illustrious friend still continuing to sound in my ears the imperious duty to which I was called, of making away with my sinful relations, and quoting many parallel actions out of the Scriptures, and the writings of the holy fathers, of the pleasure the Lord took in such as executed his vengeance on the wicked, I was obliged to acquiesce in his measures, though with certain limitations.

This Dionysian pleasure in the release of bestiality and evil, begun by the Viennese Actionists, can be traced through every succeeding decade.

He was a worthy man, fond of pleasure, a thorough-paced Epicurean, and had married an actress named Cochois, who had proved worthy of the honour he had laid on her.

By his secrecy and diligence he entertained some hopes of surprising the person of Constans, who was pursuing in the adjacent forest his favorite amusement of hunting, or perhaps some pleasures of a more private and criminal nature.