invoke
in vohk
- v summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
- v cite as an authority; resort to
He invoked the law that would save him
She invoked an ancient law - v request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or protection
- Disrupters at abortion clinics frequently invoke the First Amendment.
- During the primary she tartly dismissed canon law as an "old set of rules that are invoked when somebody wants to invoke them, and ignored when someone wants to ignore them.
- First, invoke the specter of black crime, as Lee Atwater did in 1988 when he vowed to turn murderer Willie Horton into Michael Dukakis' "running mate.