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pleading

[plee-ding]
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noun
  1. the act of a person who pleads.
  2. Law.
    1. the advocating of a cause in a court of law.
    2. the art or science of setting forth or drawing pleas in legal causes.
    3. a formal statement, usually written, setting forth the cause of action or defense of a case.
    4. pleadings,the successive statements delivered alternately by plaintiff and defendant until the issue is joined.

Origin of pleading

1250–1300; Middle English pledynge (gerund). See plead, -ing1
Related formsplead·ing·ly, adverbplead·ing·ness, nounnon·plead·ing, adjectivenon·plead·ing·ly, adverbun·plead·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pleadingly

Historical Examples

  • "Come," he said, pleadingly, and of course the doll could not have gone alone.

    Quaint Courtships

    Various

  • She fixed her eyes, out of which all threat had passed, pleadingly upon him.

    The Mystery of Murray Davenport

    Robert Neilson Stephens

  • "You know that's just what you done, Hannah," he put in, pleadingly.

    Thankful's Inheritance

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • “Let me go,” said Richling, pleadingly, and with averted face.

    Dr. Sevier

    George W. Cable

  • "I do not; indeed I do not," she rejoined, looking frankly, pleadingly into his face.

    St. Martin's Summer

    Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for pleadingly

pleading

noun law
  1. the act of presenting a case in court, as by a lawyer on behalf of his client
  2. the art or science of preparing the formal written statements of the parties to a legal actionSee also pleadings
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pleadingly

pleading

n.

late 13c., "the carrying on of a suit at court," verbal noun from plead (v.). Meaning "supplication, intercession" is from early 15c.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper