appeal

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)An application to a superior court or judge for a decision or order by an inferior court or judge to be reviewed and overturned.
2. (countable, uncountable)The legal document or form by which such an application is made; also, the court case in which the application is argued.
3. (countable, uncountable)A person's legal right to apply to court for such a review.

   “I have an appeal against the lower court decision.”

4. (countable, historical, uncountable)An accusation or charge against someone for wrongdoing (especially treason).

   “Anciently an appeal lay for high treaſon. […] But it ſeems to be taken away by the ſt[atute] 1 H[enry] 4. 14. And now, if murder be made treaſon, an appeal does not lie.”

5. (countable, historical, uncountable)A process which formerly might be instituted by one private person against another for some heinous crime demanding punishment for the particular injury suffered, rather than for the offence against the public; an accusation.

   “Ovld Iohn of Gaunt time honoured Lancaſter, / Haſt thou according to thy oath and bande / Brought hither Henrie Herford thy bolde ſonne, / Here to make good the boiſtrous late appeale, / Which then our leyſure would not let vs heare / Againſt the Duke of Norfolke, Thomas Moubray?”

6. (countable, historical, uncountable)At common law, an accusation made against a felon by one of their accomplices (called an approver).
7. (countable, uncountable)A call to a person or an authority for a decision, help, or proof; an entreaty, an invocation.

   “He made an appeal for volunteers to help at the festival.”

   “As for the Caſting vp of the Eyes, and Lifting vp of the Hands, it is a kinde of Appeale to the Deity; Which is the Author, by Power, and Prouidence, of Strange Wonders.”

   “All in their Turns accuſers, and accus'd: / Babel was never half ſo much confus'd. / What one can plead, the reſt can plead as well; / For amongſt equals lies no laſt appeal, / And all confeſs themſelves are fallible.”

   “[W]hile they received the doctrine of the Trinity as an infinite mystery, far above their reason, they contended against that of transubstantiation as capable of being tried by human faculties, and as contradicted by an appeal to them.”

   “[W]hen she lifted up / A face of sad appeal, and spake and said, / 'O Merlin, do you love me?' and again, / 'O Merlin, do you love me?' and once more, / 'Great Master, do you love me?' he was mute.”

8. (countable, uncountable)A call to a person or an authority for a decision, help, or proof; an entreaty, an invocation.
9. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)A resort to some physical means; a recourse.
10. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)A power to attract or interest.

    “The shows’ viewer appeal is simple: they’re family-friendly, good-natured and easy to play along with.”

    “It's blowing a gale and this holiday destination loses all its appeal in an instant in weather like this.”

11. (countable, rhetoric, uncountable)a use of a principle or quality for purposes of persuasion.
12. (countable, historical, uncountable)A summons to defend one's honour in a duel, or one's innocence in a trial by combat; a challenge.

    “Nor ſhall the Sacred Character of the King / Be urg'd, to ſhield me from thy bold appeal.”

verb

1. (intransitive)Often followed by against (the inferior court's decision) or to (the superior court): to apply to a superior court or judge for a decision or order by an inferior court or judge to be reviewed and overturned.

   “Dissatisfied with the judge’s ruling, she decided to appeal.”

   “He was advised by his lawyer to appeal against his conviction.”

   “For if I [Jesus] be an offender, or haue committed any thing worthy of death, I refuſe not to die: but if there be none of theſe things whereof theſe accuſe me, no man may deliuer me vnto them. I appeale vnto Ceſar.”

2. (transitive)To apply to a superior court or judge to review and overturn (a decision or order by an inferior court or judge).

   “The plaintiff appealed the decision to the appellate court.”

   “The supreme court of Victoria has upheld a decision the transfer of juvenile detainees to an adult maximum security prison, where some of them spent Christmas Day, was unlawful. The [Daniel] Andrews government had appealed the original decision, which was handed down last week.”

3. (historical, transitive)To accuse or charge (someone) with wrongdoing (especially treason).

   “This ſhalle not ſo be ended ſaid ſyr Mador de la porte / for here haue I loſte a ful noble knyght of my blood / And therfore vpon this ſhame & deſpyte I wille be reuenged to the vtteraunce / and there openly ſir Mador appeled the quene of the dethe of his coſyn ſir patryſe /”

   “We thanke you both, yet one but flatters vs, / As well appeareth by the cauſe you come, / Namely to appeale each other of high treaſon: […]”

   “He gan that Ladie ſtrongly to appele / Of many haynous crymes by her enured, / And with ſharpe reaſons rang her ſuch a pele, / That thoſe, whom ſhe to pitie had allured, / He now t'abhorre and loath her perſon had procured.”

4. (historical, transitive)Of a private person: to instituted legal proceedings (against another private person) for some heinous crime, demanding punishment for the particular injury suffered.
5. (historical, transitive)Of the accomplice of a felon: to make an accusation at common law against (the felon).
6. (intransitive)To call upon a person or an authority to corroborate a statement, to decide a controverted question, or to vindicate one's rights; to entreat, to invoke.

   “And we are as willing to appeal to the Scripture as you.”

   “If I should sometimes have occasion, which will be but seldom, to appeal to the Scriptures in the original language, it will not be to impose a new sense upon the texts which I may find it to my purpose to produce, but to open and ascertain the meaning, where the original expressions may be more clear and determinate than those of our translation.”

7. (intransitive)To call upon a person or an authority to corroborate a statement, to decide a controverted question, or to vindicate one's rights; to entreat, to invoke.
8. (intransitive)To call upon someone for a favour, help, etc.

   “I appeal to all of you to help the orphans.”

   “What is more, I call upon the greater part of you as witnesses to my statement, and I appeal to all of you who have ever listened to me talking (and there are a great many to whom this applies) to clear your neighbours’ minds on this point.”

9. (figuratively, intransitive)To have recourse or resort to some physical means.

   “Among the claimants were the mightiest sovereigns of the continent: there was little chance that they would submit to any arbitration but that of the sword; and it could not be hoped that, if they appealed to the sword, other potentates who had no pretension to any part of the disputed inheritance would long remain neutral.”

10. (figuratively, intransitive)To be attractive.

    “That idea appeals to me.”

    “The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.”

11. (historical, transitive)To summon (someone) to defend their honour in a duel, or their innocence in a trial by combat; to challenge.

    “[…] I have friends, I have followers—man to man will I appeal the Norman to the lists; let him come in his plate and his mail, and all that can render cowardice bold; I have sent such a javelin as this through a stronger fence than three of their war shields!”