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definitions

plead

[pleed]
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SEE MORE 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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RELATED WORDS

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

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 for plead

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR plead ON THESAURUS.COM
1. beg, supplicate. 2. reason. 5. claim.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pleaded

Contemporary Examples of pleaded

Historical Examples of pleaded

  • "He attacked me like the low ruffian that he is," pleaded Halbert, in extenuation.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • "And do say something cheerful, dear," pleaded Avice, at parting.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • "Girls, if you only knew how terribly this embarrasses me," pleaded Grace.

  • He pleaded eloquently for the retention of the small boroughs.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • The nurses' rooms were subject to inspection, and she had pleaded a headache.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

British Dictionary definitions for pleaded

plead

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 Formspleadable, 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
Word Origin and History for pleaded

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper