The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Appeal \Ap*peal"\, v. t.
   1. (Law) To apply for the removal of a cause from an inferior
      to a superior judge or court for the purpose of
      re["e]xamination of for decision. --Tomlins.
      [1913 Webster]

            I appeal unto C[ae]sar.               --Acts xxv.
                                                  11.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To call upon another to decide a question controverted, to
      corroborate a statement, to vindicate one's rights, etc.;
      as, I appeal to all mankind for the truth of what is
      alleged. Hence: To call on one for aid; to make earnest
      request.
      [1913 Webster]

            I appeal to the Scriptures in the original.
                                                  --Horsley.
      [1913 Webster]

            They appealed to the sword.           --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Appeal \Ap*peal"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Appealed; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Appealing.] [OE. appelen, apelen, to appeal, accuse, OF.
   appeler, fr. L. appellare to approach, address, invoke,
   summon, call, name; akin to appellere to drive to; ad +
   pellere to drive. See Pulse, and cf. Peal.]
   1. (Law)
      (a) To make application for the removal of (a cause) from
          an inferior to a superior judge or court for a
          rehearing or review on account of alleged injustice or
          illegality in the trial below. We say, the cause was
          appealed from an inferior court.
      (b) To charge with a crime; to accuse; to institute a
          private criminal prosecution against for some heinous
          crime; as, to appeal a person of felony.
          [1913 Webster]

   2. To summon; to challenge. [Archaic]
      [1913 Webster]

            Man to man will I appeal the Norman to the lists.
                                                  --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To invoke. [Obs.] --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Appeal \Ap*peal"\, n. [OE. appel, apel, OF. apel, F. appel, fr.
   appeler. See Appeal, v. t.]
   1. (Law)
      (a) An application for the removal of a cause or suit from
          an inferior to a superior judge or court for
          re["e]xamination or review.
      (b) The mode of proceeding by which such removal is
          effected.
      (c) The right of appeal.
      (d) An accusation; 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
          offense against the public.
      (e) An accusation of a felon at common law by one of his
          accomplices, which accomplice was then called an
          approver. See Approvement. --Tomlins. --Bouvier.
          [1913 Webster]

   2. A summons to answer to a charge. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A call upon a person or an authority for proof or
      decision, in one's favor; reference to another as witness;
      a call for help or a favor; entreaty.
      [1913 Webster]

            A kind of appeal to the Deity, the author of
            wonders.                              --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Resort to physical means; recourse.
      [1913 Webster]

            Every milder method is to be tried, before a nation
            makes an appeal to arms.              --Kent.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

appeal
    n 1: earnest or urgent request; "an entreaty to stop the
         fighting"; "an appeal for help"; "an appeal to the public
         to keep calm" [syn: entreaty, prayer, appeal]
    2: attractiveness that interests or pleases or stimulates; "his
       smile was part of his appeal to her" [syn: appeal,
       appealingness, charm]
    3: (law) a legal proceeding in which the appellant resorts to a
       higher court for the purpose of obtaining a review of a lower
       court decision and a reversal of the lower court's judgment
       or the granting of a new trial; "their appeal was denied in
       the superior court"
    4: request for a sum of money; "an appeal to raise money for
       starving children" [syn: solicitation, appeal,
       collection, ingathering]
    v 1: take a court case to a higher court for review; "He was
         found guilty but appealed immediately"
    2: request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or
       protection; "appeal to somebody for help"; "Invoke God in
       times of trouble" [syn: appeal, invoke]
    3: be attractive to; "The idea of a vacation appeals to me";
       "The beautiful garden attracted many people" [syn: attract,
       appeal] [ant: repel, repulse]
    4: challenge (a decision); "She appealed the verdict"
    5: cite as an authority; resort to; "He invoked the law that
       would save him"; "I appealed to the law of 1900"; "She
       invoked an ancient law" [syn: invoke, appeal]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

176 Moby Thesaurus words for "appeal":
   Angelus, Ave, Ave Maria, Hail Mary, Kyrie Eleison, Paternoster,
   acceptability, adjuration, adjure, adorability, agacerie,
   agreeability, aid prayer, allure, allurement, amiability,
   appeal motion, appeal to, appealingness, application,
   application for retrial, apply, asking, attract, attraction,
   attractiveness, be attractive, beadroll, beads, beckon, beg,
   beguile, beguilement, beguiling, beseech, beseechment, bewitchery,
   bewitchment, bid, bidding prayer, blandishment, brace, breviary,
   cajolery, call, call for help, call on, call upon, captivation,
   certiorari, chaplet, charisma, charm, charmingness, clamor,
   clamor for, collect, come-hither, communion, conjure,
   contemplation, crave, cry, cry for, cry on, cry to, delightfulness,
   desirability, devotions, draw, drawing power, enchantment, engage,
   enravishment, enthrallment, enticement, entrancement, entrapment,
   entreat, entreaty, excite, exquisiteness, fascinate, fascination,
   fetch, flirtation, forbidden fruit, glamour, grace, impetrate,
   impetration, imploration, implore, imploring, importune, imprecate,
   imprecation, inducement, intercession, interest, intrigue,
   inveiglement, invitation, invite, invitingness, invocation,
   invocatory plea, invoke, kneel to, likability, litany, lovability,
   loveliness, lovesomeness, lure, luxury, magnetism, meditation,
   obsecration, obtest, obtestation, orison, petition, plea, plead,
   plead for, pleasantness, please, pray, prayer, prayer wheel,
   provocativeness, pull, request, requesting, rogation, rosary,
   run to, seducement, seduction, seductiveness, sensuousness,
   sex appeal, silent prayer, snaring, solicit, solicitation, sue,
   sue for, suit, summon, supplicate, supplication, sweetness,
   tantalization, tantalize, tantalizingness, tease, tempt,
   temptation, temptingness, thanks, thanksgiving, tickle, titillate,
   unobjectionableness, voluptuousness, whet the appetite,
   winning ways, winningness, winsomeness, witchcraft, witchery,
   wooing, writ of certiorari, writ of error



Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Appeal
   a reference of any case from an inferior to a superior court.
   Moses established in the wilderness a series of judicatories
   such that appeals could be made from a lower to a higher (Ex.
   18:13-26.)

     Under the Roman law the most remarkable case of appeal is that
   of Paul from the tribunal of Festus at Caesarea to that of the
   emperor at Rome (Acts 25:11, 12, 21, 25). Paul availed himself
   of the privilege of a Roman citizen in this matter.


Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

APPEAL, English crim. law. The accusation of a person, in a legal form, for
a crime committed by him; or, it is the lawful declaration of another man's
crime, before a competent judge, by one who sets his name to the
declaration, and undertakes to prove it, upon the penalty which may ensue
thereon. Vide Co. Litt. 123 b, 287 b; 6 Burr. R. 2643, 2793; 2 W. Bl. R.
713; 1 B. & A. 405. Appeals of murder, as well as of treason, felony, or
other offences, together with wager of battle, are abolished by stat. 59
Geo. M. c. 46.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

APPEAL, practice. The act by which a party submits to the decision of a
superior court, a cause which has been tried in an inferior tribunal. 1 S. &
R. 78 Bin. 219; 3 Bin. 48.
     2. The appeal generally annuls the judgment of the inferior court, so
far that no action can be taken upon it until after the final decision of
the cause. Its object is to review the whole case, and to secure a just
judgment upon the merits.
     3. An appeal differs from proceedings in error, under which the errors
committed in the proceedings are examined, and if any have been committed
the first judgment is reversed; because in the appeal the whole case is
examined and tried as if it had not been tried before. Vide Dane's Ab. h.t.;
Serg. Const. Law Index, h.t. and article Courts of the United States.



The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

APPEAL, v.t.  In law, to put the dice into the box for another throw.