plead
Americanverb (used without object)
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pleads,
present (3rd person singular)
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pleaded,
past participle, past
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pled,
past participle, past
-
pleading
present participle
-
to appeal or entreat earnestly.
to plead for time.
- Synonyms:
- supplicate, beg
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to use arguments or persuasions, as with a person, for or against something.
She pleaded with him not to take the job.
- Synonyms:
- reason
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to afford an argument or appeal.
His youth pleads for him.
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Law.
-
to make any allegation or plea in an action at law.
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to put forward an answer on the part of a defendant to a legal declaration or charge.
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to address a court as an advocate.
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Obsolete. to prosecute a suit or action at law.
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verb (used with object)
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pleads,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pleaded,
past participle, past
-
pled,
past participle, past
-
pleading
present participle
-
to allege or urge in defense, justification, or excuse.
to plead ignorance.
- Synonyms:
- claim
-
Law.
-
to maintain (a cause) by argument before a court.
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to allege or set forth (something) formally in an action at law.
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to allege or cite in legal defense.
to plead a statute of limitations.
-
verb
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to appeal earnestly or humbly (to)
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to give as an excuse; offer in justification or extenuation
to plead ignorance
he pleaded that he was insane
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to provide an argument or appeal (for)
her beauty pleads for her
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law to declare oneself to be (guilty or not guilty) in answer to the charge
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law to advocate (a case) in a court of law
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(intr) law
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to file pleadings
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to address a court as an advocate
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Usage
What does plead mean? Plead means to beg or passionately try to persuade someone to do something. It’s similar to the word beg, which often means to request again and again. Plead can mean the same thing, but it’s especially used to imply that the request is passionate and that the person doing the pleading is desperate. It’s especially used in serious situations. A person might plead with their friend to get help with an addiction. You might plead with your teacher for more time to complete a project. Plead is used in a more specific way in a legal context, in which it means to declare one’s status in response to charges, especially to plead guilty or not guilty, as in How does the defendant plead? and My client pleads not guilty. It can also mean to argue something in court. The expression plead one’s case uses this sense of the word. Less commonly, plead can mean to offer as an excuse for or defense of one’s actions. When used this way, it’s typically followed by the specific excuse, as in, Don’t plead ignorance—you knew what you were doing. Plead has two past tense forms: pleaded and pled. The noun form of plead is plea. Example: When I was a kid, I was afraid of the dentist and used to plead with my mom not to make me go.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pleadsimple
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pleadssimple
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have pleadedperfect
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have pledperfect
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has pleadedperfect
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has pledperfect
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am pleadingprogressive
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are pleadingprogressive
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is pleadingprogressive
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have been pleadingperfect progressive
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has been pleadingperfect progressive
Past
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pleadedsimple
-
pledsimple
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had pleadedperfect
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had pledperfect
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was pleadingprogressive
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were pleadingprogressive
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had been pleadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plead
First recordd in 1200–50; Middle English plaiden, from< Old French plaid(i)er “to go to law, plead,” from early Medieval Latin placitāre “to litigate,” derivative of Latin placitum “opinion, agreed condition.” See plea
Explanation
To plead with someone is to try to convince them to see it your way. Your kids may plead with you to let them go on the super-huge outrageous roller coaster built in 1968, but you know better. The term plead comes from the word plea, which is from the legal system, where lawyers make a plea to the court and argue a case for their client. To plead is to ask for something from someone, often on the verge of begging. You may plead with the phone company to give an appointment time that spans only three hours, but, regardless of your pleading, they will make you wait eight hours for the technician to finally show.
Vocabulary lists containing plead
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I’m no expert, but I don’t think their mating rituals involve using the New York Times to plead their case or, when that doesn’t work, threatening to move en masse to Tennessee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
The father decided to plead guilty to avoid a long trial and spare his family reliving the child's death in court, Alexandrou said.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
She scheduled a last-minute news conference with nursing staff from Kansas City Public Schools to plead with parents to immunize their children.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
Ho is the only defendant to plead guilty to the prosecutions.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
Did he plead with them not to replace the window because more might be coming?
From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
Alejandro Tellez’s contribution came with the punchy “Linda Sonrisa,” that pleads for someone to realize the realities of the mistreatment they’re facing with another lover.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
"He pleads guilty knowing that he deserves a substantial prison sentence," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Awash in the sounds of rain, she pleads with a lover to abandon her, as she does not feel strong enough to make that choice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
“Rise up!” the chorus pleads, and demands, and hopes for.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
“Live,” she pleads to her husband before she leaves.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Abdulrahman Alfozan, the Saudi national accused of bugging a restricted OpenAI conference room, pleaded not guilty on Friday in a federal court in San Francisco.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of intercepting oral communications at OpenAI’s office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Wong pleaded guilty in September, a move that typically results in a reduced sentence.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
He and four men have already pleaded guilty to a series of offences, but the trial of nine other defendants who deny all charges has begun at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
“I looked him up online. I was curious about him. I read that he pleaded ‘not guilty’ before the trial.”
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
For example, Jason Galanis, who pled guilty to defrauding the Oglala Sioux Nation, had paid just over $2 million of his $80 million restitution before his sentence was commuted and the restitution erased in 2025.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
In August 2024 he rejected a motion to dismiss a private suit against Harvard, writing, “the facts as pled show that Harvard failed its Jewish students.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The pardon covered his son's federal gun conviction, a tax case he'd pled guilty to and any federal offences committed between 2014 and 2024.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
In more recent cases, State Department intelligence analyst Walter Kendall Myers and former US ambassador to Bolivia Victor Manuel Rocha pled guilty in separate cases to spying for the communist country.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
At last, he pled, whispering, “Just turn on the grass. Like a child in the morning.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Rooney, who was almost pleading with United's players to "show some passion and desire" after a "nothing" first half, could only praise Carrick at the end.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
The jury heard the husband in the Stockport area case, after pleading guilty, had given an account of his actions and would appear as a witness.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
Hamilton’s campaign built an ad around Meischa Zimmerman, who says she was arrested while eight months pregnant after missing a $50 payment, and found herself pleading not to be handcuffed in front of her two-year-old.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
After pleading no contest, he was sentenced to probation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
The way they look at her, the pleading glances and tear-streaked stares.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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