pleading

American  

[plee-ding] / ˈpli dɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of a person who pleads.

2. Law.

   1. the advocating of a cause in a court of law.

   2. the art or science of setting forth or drawing pleas in legal causes.

   3. a formal statement, usually written, setting forth the cause of action or defense of a case.

   4. pleadings, the successive statements delivered alternately by plaintiff and defendant until the issue is joined.

---

pleading British  

/ ˈpliːdɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of presenting a case in court, as by a lawyer on behalf of his client

2. the art or science of preparing the formal written statements of the parties to a legal action See also pleadings

---

Other Word Forms

• nonpleading adjective
• nonpleadingly adverb
• pleadingly adverb
• pleadingness noun
• unpleading adjective

Etymology

Origin of pleading

1250–1300; Middle English pledynge (gerund). See plead, -ing ¹

Example Sentences

"We're obviously a big investor in Qatar, so a lot of my conversations with the administration is really pleading to try to get extra protection around the US-owned assets in Qatar," Lance said.

From Barron's

Players from both teams were pleading for foul calls most of the game.

From Los Angeles Times

"There's a proposal for 65 new houses in the Loup and the response from NI Water is that there simply isn't enough water capacity, and people in this area are pleading for houses."

From BBC

A person with Timberlake walks up to the officers and asks what's going on, at one point pleading with them not to arrest him.

From BBC

All the while, chefs, culinary historians and industry observers were pleading for Americans to embrace poultry’s dark side.

From The Wall Street Journal