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(countable) A claim to commendation or a reward.
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(countable) A mark or token of approbation or to recognize excellence.
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(countable, uncountable) Something deserving or worthy of positive recognition or reward.
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(uncountable, Buddhism, Jainism) The sum of all the good deeds that a person does which determines the quality of the person's next state of existence and contributes to the person's growth towards enlightenment.
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(uncountable, law) Usually in the plural form the merits: the substantive rightness or wrongness of a legal argument, a lawsuit, etc., as opposed to technical matters such as the admissibility of evidence or points of legal procedure; (by extension) the overall good or bad quality, or rightness or wrongness, of some other thing.
definition
(countable, obsolete) The quality or state of deserving retribution, whether reward or punishment.