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• plea-bargain
  plea-bargain

  verb (used without object)

  to engage in plea bargaining.
• plea bargain
  plea bargain

  noun

  plea deal.

plea-bargain

¹ American  

[plee-bahr-gin] / ˈpliˌbɑr gɪn /

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in plea bargaining.

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verb (used with object)

1. to deal with or achieve by plea bargaining.

   to plea-bargain a reduced sentence.

noun

1. the agreement arrived at as a result of plea bargaining.

plea bargain ² American  

[plee bahr-guhn] / ˈpli ˌbɑr gən /

noun

• plea bargains
  plural

1. plea deal.

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plea bargain Cultural  

1. An agreement that permits a defendant to plead guilty to a lesser charge instead of pleading not guilty to a more serious one. Plea bargaining is usually undertaken by a prosecutor to obtain important information from a defendant or to avoid a long and costly trial.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• plea-bargainer
  noun
• plea-bargain
  verb
• plea-bargain
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• plea bargains
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of plea-bargain

First recorded in 1965–70

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plea-bargain plea bargain

Martinez Guzman, who authorities say entered the U.S. illegally at age 16, pleaded guilty to all the crimes last year after prosecutors announced they’d agreed to a plea-bargain agreement in October.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2022

Cartabia says she can speed up trials thanks to measures to encourage defendants to seek plea-bargain deals and the hiring of thousands of support staff in courtrooms.

From Reuters ● Jul. 29, 2021

Mr Kabendera's release comes after he entered into a plea-bargain agreement with the prosecution.

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2020

Prosecutors agreed to drop an additional charge of carrying a concealed weapon as part of a plea-bargain agreement.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 17, 2019

Innocence advocates say such cases raise questions about the plea-bargain system, which has grown to resolve about 95 percent of felony criminal cases in the United States.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 4, 2018

From this there carries a limited space for courts to reject grotesque or unconstitutional plea bargain terms.

From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026

However, the court decided to impose the same sentence on all three, regardless of the plea bargain.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

The New York federal district court judge gave Doyle a tongue-lashing and sentenced him to six years in prison, twice the time stipulated in his plea bargain, citing his record that included 11 convictions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026

“Mr. Kaleel has always maintained his innocence and that he took his initial plea bargain on the advice of counsel to avoid a harsher sentence should he lose at trial,” Hardie previoulsy told The Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025

Defendants are typically denied meaningful legal representation, pressured by the threat of lengthy sentences into a plea bargain, and then placed under formal control—in prison or jail, on probation or parole.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

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