plead
verbEtymology
From Middle English pleden, plaiden, from Old French plaider (“to plead, offer a plea”), from plait, from Medieval Latin placitum (“a decree, sentence, suit, plea, etc.", in Classical Latin, "an opinion, determination, prescription, order; literally, that which is pleasing, pleasure”), neuter of placitus, past participle of placeō (“to please”). Cognate with Spanish pleitear (“to litigate, take to court”).
Definitions
To present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case.
- The defendant has decided to plead not guilty.
- O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
- At the High Court in Aberdeen in September, NR pleaded guilty to a series of failings, including failing to tell the driver that it was unsafe to drive the train at the 75mph line speed.
To beg, beseech, or implore, especially emotionally.
- He pleaded with me not to leave the house.
- He was pleading for mercy.
To offer by way of excuse.
- Not wishing to attend the banquet, I pleaded illness.
- It is no defence to plead that you were only obeying orders.
- From there Prince Rupert, the Royalist general and nephew of Charles I, demanded over £2,000 from the mayor of Leicester to pay the king's forces who were camped around Queniborough. The mayor, however, pleaded poverty and sent only £500.
›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer
To discuss by arguments.
The neighborhood
- neighborplea
- neighborpleasant
- neighborplease
- neighborpleasurable
- neighborpleasure
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at plead. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at plead. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
7 hops · closes at plead
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA