Definition of "placation"

The refusal, at certain times and seasons, of food that in itself is hygienically good and palatable, in placation of a deity, or, without further explanation, to avoid bad luck, is well known among the lower tribes of men.

1888, “Manners and meals”, in Science, volume 12, number 283, page 3

Instead, Jerry [a dog] was all placation and appeal, all softness of pleading in a body denied speech that nevertheless was articulate, from wagging tail and wriggling sides to flat-laid ears and eyes that almost spoke, to any human sensitive of understanding.

1917 April, Jack London, chapter VII, in Jerry of the Islands, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, page 100

While these political sellout artists have been intoning their mind numbing placations, citizens across the nation have been speaking and acting.

2006 May 14, Dan DeWalt, “Impeachment is too important to leave to the Democrats”, in OpEdNews.com, retrieved 8 Aug. 2009