plea
an appeal or entreaty: a plea for mercy.
something that is alleged, urged, or pleaded in defense or justification.
an excuse; pretext: He begged off on the plea that his car wasn't working.
Law.
an allegation made by, or on behalf of, a party to a legal suit, in support of their claim or defense.
a defendant's answer to a legal declaration or charge.
(in courts of equity) a plea that admits the truth of the declaration, but alleges special or new matter in avoidance.
Obsolete. a suit or action.
Idioms about plea
cop a plea, Slang. cop2 (def. 5b).
Origin of plea
1Other words for plea
Words that may be confused with plea
- pleas , please
Words Nearby plea
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use plea in a sentence
A couple of years later, she was charged with larceny in a separate case from the first shoplifting incident and was offered a plea deal.
A woman in ICE detention says her fallopian tube was removed without her consent | Nicole Narea | September 17, 2020 | VoxFollowing pleas from their governments, tourists from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia will also be able to enter Hungary if they had already booked a holiday there.
As Europe’s COVID-19 numbers rise, Hungary becomes first EU country to reimpose blanket border restrictions | David Meyer | September 1, 2020 | FortuneIn their pleas, they said that without government support, their restaurants would close for good.
Is the Government Just Going to Watch the Restaurant Industry Die? | Elazar Sontag | August 28, 2020 | EaterUnlike most plea agreements, in which the judge remains free to decide the defendant’s sentence, Loughlin’s and Giannulli’s proposed prison terms were binding once accepted.
Lori Loughlin gets two months in prison after judge accepts plea deal in college bribery scandal | radmarya | August 21, 2020 | FortuneAs a result, California in 2014 became the first state to ban the plea.
Harris as VP pick brings diversity, LGBTQ ally to Biden ticket | Chris Johnson | August 11, 2020 | Washington Blade
He later accepted a plea deal that put him behind bars for 25 years.
An Informant, a Missing American, and Juarez’s House of Death: Inside the 12-Year Cold Case of David Castro | Bill Conroy | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTSchettino also tried to enter a plea bargain agreement, which ultimately was rejected by the Grosseto court.
The Costa Concordia’s Randy Reckless Captain Takes the Stand | Barbie Latza Nadeau | December 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe mother also made a plea to the violent ones who wreak such havoc.
11 Children Shot in Milwaukee, One in Her Grandpa's Lap | Michael Daly | November 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was an intimate and somber plea, like a parent opening an intervention with a wayward child.
He could have gotten away with a greatly reduced fine and no time behind bears if he had simply entered a guilty plea.
It is probable he wished to provide written proof of a plea that he was an unwilling agent in the clutch of a mutinous army.
The Red Year | Louis TracyNor can he hold the company on the plea of ignorance by declaring he has not read it, for it is his duty to read the receipt.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman | Albert Sidney BollesOn the plea that they must hasten if the midday heat were to be avoided, they cut short the halt to less than an hour.
The Red Year | Louis TracyIn short, insurgency ceased to be a valid plea; if it existed in fact, officially it had become a dead letter.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanFor the popular voice accused him of outrages for which the utmost license of civil war would not furnish a plea.
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington Macaulay
British Dictionary definitions for plea
/ (pliː) /
an earnest entreaty or request: a plea for help
law something alleged or pleaded by or on behalf of a party to legal proceedings in support of his claim or defence
criminal law the answer made by an accused to the charge: a plea of guilty
(in Scotland and formerly in England) a suit or action at law
an excuse, justification, or pretext: he gave the plea of a previous engagement
Origin of plea
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with plea
see cop a plea.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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