plea
Audio Help [plee] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [plee] Pronunciation Key –noun
—Idiom
| 1. | an appeal or entreaty: a plea for mercy. |
| 2. | something that is alleged, urged, or pleaded in defense or justification. |
| 3. | an excuse; pretext: He begged off on the plea that his car wasn't working. |
| 4. | Law.
|
| 5. | cop a plea, Slang. cop1 (def. 5b). |
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME ple, earlier plaid < OF < early ML placitum law-court, suit, decision, decree, L: opinion (lit., that which is pleasing or agreeable), n. use of neut. of ptp. of placére to please
]
] —Synonyms 1. request, petition, supplication, solicitation, suit. 3. justification.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
plea
To learn more about plea visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| plea
Audio Help (plē) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English plai, lawsuit, from Old French plai, plaid, from Late Latin placitum, decree, from Latin, from neuter past participle of placēre, to please; see plāk-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
plea
c.1215, "lawsuit," from Anglo-Fr. plai (c.1170), O.Fr. plait "lawsuit, decision, decree" (842), from M.L. placitum "lawsuit," in classical L., "opinion, decree," lit. "that which pleases, thing which is agreed upon," properly neut. pp. of placere (see please). Sense development seems to be from "something pleasant," to "something that pleases both sides," to "something that has been decided." Meaning "a pleading, an agreement in a suit" is attested from c.1381. Plea bargaining is first attested 1963. Common pleas (c.1215) originally were legal proceedings over which the Crown did not claim exclusive jurisdiction (as distinct from pleas of the Crown); later "actions brought by one subject against another."
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| plea | |
noun | |
| 1. | a humble request for help from someone in authority [syn: supplication] |
| 2. | (law) a defendant's answer by a factual matter (as distinguished from a demurrer) |
| 3. | an answer indicating why a suit should be dismissed |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
plea
see cop a plea.
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. |
plea1 [pliː] noun
a prisoner's answer to a charge
Example: He made a plea of (not) guilty.
plea2 [pliː] nounExample: He made a plea of (not) guilty.
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an urgent request
Example: The hospital sent out a plea for blood-donors.
Example: The hospital sent out a plea for blood-donors.
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Plea
Plac"it\, n. [L. placitum. See Plea.] A decree or determination; a dictum. [Obs.] "The placits and opinions of other philosophers." --Evelyn.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
PLEA
PLEA: in Acronym Finder
| Acronym Finder, © 1988-2007 Mountain Data Systems |
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