/ plaɪt; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
[ sing. ] a difficult and sad situation :
the plight of the homeless
The African elephant is in a desperate plight.
■ verb
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IDIOMS
- plight your troth
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WORD ORIGIN
noun Middle English : from Anglo-Norman French plit fold. The -gh- spelling is by association with plight (verb).
verb Old English plihtan endanger , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch plicht and German Pflicht duty. The current sense is recorded only from Middle English , but is probably original, in view of the related Germanic words.