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plead

[pleed]
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verb (used without object), plead·ed or pled, plead·ing.
  1. to appeal or entreat earnestly: to plead for time.
  2. to use arguments or persuasions, as with a person, for or against something: She pleaded with him not to take the job.
  3. to afford an argument or appeal: His youth pleads for him.
  4. 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.
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verb (used with object), plead·ed or pled, plead·ing.
  1. to allege or urge in defense, justification, or excuse: to plead ignorance.
  2. 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
Related formsre·plead, verb, re·plead·ed, re·plead·ing.un·plead·ed, adjective

Synonyms

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1. beg, supplicate. 2. reason. 5. claim.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

askprayappealsolicitpetitionrespondciteassertmaintainargueallegedeclarebeseechimportuneentreatimplorecravesupplicatecrawladduce

Examples from the Web for plead

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • It is not for Aspasia, the gifted daughter of Axiochus, that I plead.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • Will their successors falter and plead organic impotency in the nation?

  • So expect not any advocateship from me: I will not plead for you; and that's enough.

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • But what then can I plead for a palliation to myself of my mother's sufferings on my account?

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • They tried to make her plead 'Not guilty,' but she wouldn't lie about it, she said.

    The Underdog

    F. Hopkinson Smith

British Dictionary definitions for plead

plead

verb pleads, pleading, pleaded, plead (plɛd) or esp US and Scot pled (plɛd)
  1. (when intr, often foll by with) to appeal earnestly or humbly (to)
  2. (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
  3. (intr often foll by for) to provide an argument or appeal (for)her beauty pleads for her
  4. law to declare oneself to be (guilty or not guilty) in answer to the charge
  5. law to advocate (a case) in a court of law
  6. (intr) law
    1. to file pleadings
    2. to address a court as an advocate
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Derived Formspleadable, adjectivepleader, noun

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for plead

v.

mid-13c., "make a plea in court," from Anglo-French pleder, Old French plaidier, "plead at court" (11c.), from Medieval Latin placitare, from Late Latin placitum (see plea). Sense of "request, beg" first recorded late 14c. Related: Pleaded; pleading; pleadingly.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper