- leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice;
"he threw himself on the mercy of the court"
- a disposition to be kind and forgiving;
"in those days a wife had to depend on the mercifulness of her husband"
- the feeling that motivates compassion
- something for which to be thankful;
"it was a mercy we got out alive"
- alleviation of distress; showing great kindness toward the distressed;
"distributing food and clothing to the flood victims was an act of mercy"
