PLEAD (pled)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: pled   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does plead mean? 

• PLEAD (verb)
  The verb PLEAD has 4 senses:

1. appeal or request earnestly

2. offer as an excuse or plea

3. enter a plea, as in courts of law

4. make an allegation in an action or other legal proceeding, especially answer the previous pleading of the other party by denying facts therein stated or by alleging new facts

  Familiarity information: PLEAD used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLEAD (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they plead    ... he / she / it pleads   
Past simple: plead    / pleaded    / pled   
Past participle: plead    / pleaded    / pled   
-ing form: pleading   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Appeal or request earnestly

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

I pleaded with him to stop

Hypernyms (to "plead" is one way to...):

appeal; invoke (request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or protection)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plead"):

beg; implore; pray (call upon in supplication; entreat)

adjure; beseech; bid; conjure; entreat; press (ask for or request earnestly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

They plead to move

Sense 2

Meaning:

Offer as an excuse or plea

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

She was pleading insanity

Hypernyms (to "plead" is one way to...):

apologise; apologize; excuse; rationalise; rationalize (defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s Adjective
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 3

Meaning:

Enter a plea, as in courts of law

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

She pleaded not guilty

Hypernyms (to "plead" is one way to...):

declare (state emphatically and authoritatively)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s Adjective

Derivation:

pleading ((law) a statement in legal and logical form stating something on behalf of a party to a legal proceeding)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make an allegation in an action or other legal proceeding, especially answer the previous pleading of the other party by denying facts therein stated or by alleging new facts

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "plead" is one way to...):

allege; aver; say (report or maintain)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plead"):

demur (enter a demurrer)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

pleader (a lawyer who pleads cases in court)

pleading ((law) a statement in legal and logical form stating something on behalf of a party to a legal proceeding)

 Context examples 

And at his heart pleaded a great temptation.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

At first she wouldn't come at all; and then she pleaded for five minutes by my watch.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Weedon Scott looked across at his companion with eyes that almost pleaded, though this was given the lie by his words.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

"But he'll cry himself sick," pleaded Meg, reproaching herself for deserting her boy.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He pleaded with his eyes to remain there.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

My total ignorance of the connection must plead my apology.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

"Better let me shoot him," he pleaded.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

It was as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was one which it was hard to resist.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“But just this once,” I pleaded.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"But oh, my dear one," he pleaded, "death is afar off from you."

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)