1. Leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice
   "he threw himself on the mercy of the court";
   - clemency, mercifulness
    
2. A disposition to be kind and forgiving
   "in those days a wife had to depend on the mercy of her husband";
   - mercifulness
    
3. Alleviation of distress; showing great kindness toward the distressed
   "distributing food and clothing to the flood victims was an act of mercy"
    
4. The feeling that motivates compassion
   "He appealed to the judge's mercy";
   - mercifulness
    
5. Something for which to be thankful
   "it was a mercy we got out alive"

Derived forms: mercies

Type of: blessing, boon, compassion, compassionateness, humaneness, lenience, leniency, ministration, relief, succor [US], succour [Brit, Cdn]

Encyclopedia: Mercy, Severity