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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

plead.

To present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/pliːd/present/plɛd/past
  1. To present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case.

    ambitransitive · copulative
    The defendant has decided to plead not guilty.
  2. To beg, beseech, or implore, especially emotionally.

    intransitive
    He pleaded with me not to leave the house.
    He was pleading for mercy.
  3. To offer by way of excuse.

    transitive
    Not wishing to attend the banquet, I pleaded illness.
    It is no defence to plead that you were only obeying orders.
  4. To discuss by arguments.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.