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plead

[ pleed ]
/ plid /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR plead ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), plead·ed or pled, plead·ing.

to appeal or entreat earnestly: to plead for time.
to use arguments or persuasions, as with a person, for or against something: She pleaded with him not to take the job.
to afford an argument or appeal: His youth pleads for him.
Law.
  1. to make any allegation or plea in an action at law.
  2. to put forward an answer on the part of a defendant to a legal declaration or charge.
  3. to address a court as an advocate.
  4. Obsolete. to prosecute a suit or action at law.

verb (used with object), plead·ed or pled, plead·ing.

to allege or urge in defense, justification, or excuse: to plead ignorance.
Law.
  1. to maintain (a cause) by argument before a court.
  2. to allege or set forth (something) formally in an action at law.
  3. to allege or cite in legal defense: to plead a statute of limitations.

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Origin of plead

1200–50; Middle English plaiden < Old French plaid(i)er to go to law, plead < early Medieval Latin placitāre to litigate, derivative of Latin placitum opinion. See plea

OTHER WORDS FROM plead

re·plead, verb, re·plead·ed, re·plead·ing.un·plead·ed, adjective

Words nearby plead

plc, plea, plea bargain, plea-bargain, pleach, plead, pleadable, pleader, pleading, pleadings, pleasance
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to plead

ask, pray, appeal, solicit, petition, respond, cite, assert, maintain, argue, allege, declare, beseech, importune, entreat, implore, crave, supplicate, crawl, adduce

Example sentences from the Web for plead

British Dictionary definitions for plead

plead
/ (pliːd) /

verb pleads, pleading, pleaded, plead (plɛd) or esp US and Scot pled (plɛd)

(when intr, often foll by with) to appeal earnestly or humbly (to)
(tr; may take a clause as object) to give as an excuse; offer in justification or extenuationto plead ignorance; he pleaded that he was insane
(intr often foll by for) to provide an argument or appeal (for)her beauty pleads for her
law to declare oneself to be (guilty or not guilty) in answer to the charge
law to advocate (a case) in a court of law
(intr) law
  1. to file pleadings
  2. to address a court as an advocate

Derived forms of plead

pleadable, adjectivepleader, noun

Word Origin for plead

C13: from Old French plaidier, from Medieval Latin placitāre to have a lawsuit, from Latin placēre to please; see plea
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