Definition of petitions:
(n) :
A formal written request made by an individual or a group of people to a sovereign or political authority, often containing many signatures, soliciting some grace, right, mercy, or the redress of some wrong or grievance.
(n) :
(law, by extension) A formal written application made to a magistrate or court for an order or a suit for divorce.
(n) :
A prayer or supplication, especially of which is formal or humble and made to a deity, a sovereign, or an authority.
(v) :
(transitive) To make a petition to (a sovereign or political authority).