plead
Americanverb (used without object)
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pleads,
present (3rd person singular)
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pleaded,
past participle, past
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pled,
past participle, past
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pleading
present participle
-
to appeal or entreat earnestly.
to plead for time.
- Synonyms:
- supplicate, beg
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to use arguments or persuasions, as with a person, for or against something.
She pleaded with him not to take the job.
- Synonyms:
- reason
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to afford an argument or appeal.
His youth pleads for him.
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Law.
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to make any allegation or plea in an action at law.
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to put forward an answer on the part of a defendant to a legal declaration or charge.
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to address a court as an advocate.
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Obsolete. to prosecute a suit or action at law.
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verb (used with object)
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pleads,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pleaded,
past participle, past
-
pled,
past participle, past
-
pleading
present participle
-
to allege or urge in defense, justification, or excuse.
to plead ignorance.
- Synonyms:
- claim
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Law.
-
to maintain (a cause) by argument before a court.
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to allege or set forth (something) formally in an action at law.
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to allege or cite in legal defense.
to plead a statute of limitations.
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verb
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to appeal earnestly or humbly (to)
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to give as an excuse; offer in justification or extenuation
to plead ignorance
he pleaded that he was insane
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to provide an argument or appeal (for)
her beauty pleads for her
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law to declare oneself to be (guilty or not guilty) in answer to the charge
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law to advocate (a case) in a court of law
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(intr) law
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to file pleadings
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to address a court as an advocate
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Usage
What does plead mean? Plead means to beg or passionately try to persuade someone to do something. It’s similar to the word beg, which often means to request again and again. Plead can mean the same thing, but it’s especially used to imply that the request is passionate and that the person doing the pleading is desperate. It’s especially used in serious situations. A person might plead with their friend to get help with an addiction. You might plead with your teacher for more time to complete a project. Plead is used in a more specific way in a legal context, in which it means to declare one’s status in response to charges, especially to plead guilty or not guilty, as in How does the defendant plead? and My client pleads not guilty. It can also mean to argue something in court. The expression plead one’s case uses this sense of the word. Less commonly, plead can mean to offer as an excuse for or defense of one’s actions. When used this way, it’s typically followed by the specific excuse, as in, Don’t plead ignorance—you knew what you were doing. Plead has two past tense forms: pleaded and pled. The noun form of plead is plea. Example: When I was a kid, I was afraid of the dentist and used to plead with my mom not to make me go.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pleadsimple
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pleadssimple
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have pleadedperfect
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have pledperfect
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has pleadedperfect
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has pledperfect
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am pleadingprogressive
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are pleadingprogressive
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is pleadingprogressive
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have been pleadingperfect progressive
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has been pleadingperfect progressive
Past
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pleadedsimple
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pledsimple
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had pleadedperfect
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had pledperfect
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was pleadingprogressive
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were pleadingprogressive
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had been pleadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plead
First recordd in 1200–50; Middle English plaiden, from< Old French plaid(i)er “to go to law, plead,” from early Medieval Latin placitāre “to litigate,” derivative of Latin placitum “opinion, agreed condition.” See plea
Explanation
To plead with someone is to try to convince them to see it your way. Your kids may plead with you to let them go on the super-huge outrageous roller coaster built in 1968, but you know better. The term plead comes from the word plea, which is from the legal system, where lawyers make a plea to the court and argue a case for their client. To plead is to ask for something from someone, often on the verge of begging. You may plead with the phone company to give an appointment time that spans only three hours, but, regardless of your pleading, they will make you wait eight hours for the technician to finally show.
Vocabulary lists containing plead
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"The Ravine," Vocabulary from the short story
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Instead of "Said": Words for Asking and Offering
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Sturgeon also told Dale that she only discovered Murrell was due to plead guilty a week before his first public court appearance.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
But they did not plead the Fifth, opting instead to refuse to appear.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Presumably most of the senators were aware that protocol requires a witness pleading the Fifth to plead it to all questions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
The aerospace giant had been set to plead guilty to misleading air-safety regulators but instead paid a $243 million fine and received a nonprosecution agreement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
My trip to Chicago to plead his case took on greater significance than ever.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
"He pleads guilty knowing that he deserves a substantial prison sentence," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
The Times goes with "Burnham pleads for ten years to 'rewire' Britain".
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
In 2017, he played opposite Hugh Jackman in “Logan” as a doctor who pleads with Wolverine to heal up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
It’s just days before the wedding, and as the caterer gently pleads, a “yes” has to be absolutely final this time around.
From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2026
“My little brother is on—” Ben’s voice pleads.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Davis has since backtracked and pleaded not guilty.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
Sean McCluskie, Becerra’s former chief of staff; Dana Williamson, a Democratic advisor and former chief of staff to Newsom; and lobbyist Greg Campbell have all pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges and are awaiting sentencing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
He pleaded not guilty to the state charges Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
This March, three Late Stage executives pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Two warriors are far, but Gurgi sees them—yes, yes, they are riding full of wickedness and fierceness. But there is time for a small crunching,” Gurgi pleaded.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
In more recent cases, State Department intelligence analyst Walter Kendall Myers and former US ambassador to Bolivia Victor Manuel Rocha pled guilty in separate cases to spying for the communist country.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
Defence advocate Sarah Livingstone pled not guilty on his behalf.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was originally charged with murder, but pled guilty to the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
“Mr. Zambada has not entered into any cooperation agreement, has not pled pursuant to any cooperation arrangement, and is not cooperating with the United States government in any capacity.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026
They pled with the few who still loaded sideboards and escritoires into tenders.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
LA Jazz Festival was a major project for Ludlow, a former Los Angeles City Council member turned music promoter and community activist after pleading guilty to misappropriating funds in 2006.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
But his attempts to distinguish them read as special pleading.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
The actor made the arrangements after seeing a video of the students pleading with him to persuade their head teacher Daniel Woodrow to take them to see the movie.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
And in pleading guilty, Bolton admitted to having committed a crime.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026
I check the clock on my phone, avoiding his pleading gaze.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
