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pleading

 - 8 dictionary results
Westlake Village, CA
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plead⋅ing

  [plee-ding]
Use pleading in a Sentence
–noun
1. the act of a person who pleads.
2. Law.
a. the advocating of a cause in a court of law.
b. the art or science of setting forth or drawing pleas in legal causes.
c. a formal statement, usually written, setting forth the cause of action or defense of a case.
d. pleadings, the successive statements delivered alternately by plaintiff and defendant until the issue is joined.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME pledynge (ger.). See plead, -ing 1

Related forms:
plead⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
plead⋅ing⋅ness, noun
Westlake Village, CA
Law Offices of Carolyn C. Phillips "Every Case has a Winning Strategy"
carolynphillipslaw.com

plead

  [pleed] verb, plead⋅ed or pled; plead⋅ing.
–verb (used without object)
1. to appeal or entreat earnestly: to plead for time.
2. to use arguments or persuasions, as with a person, for or against something: She pleaded with him not to take the job.
3. to afford an argument or appeal: His youth pleads for him.
4. Law.
a. to make any allegation or plea in an action at law.
b. to put forward an answer on the part of a defendant to a legal declaration or charge.
c. to address a court as an advocate.
d. Obsolete. to prosecute a suit or action at law.
–verb (used with object)
5. to allege or urge in defense, justification, or excuse: to plead ignorance.
6. Law.
a. to maintain (a cause) by argument before a court.
b. to allege or set forth (something) formally in an action at law.
c. to allege or cite in legal defense: to plead a statute of limitations.
Origin:
1200–50; ME plaiden < OF plaid(i)er to go to law, plead < early ML placitāre to litigate, deriv. of L placitum opinion. See plea

Synonyms:
1. beg, supplicate. 2. reason. 5. claim.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pleading
plead   (plēd)   
v.   plead·ed or pled (plěd), plead·ing, pleads

v.   intr.

  1. To appeal earnestly; beg: plead for more time.

  2. To offer reasons for or against something; argue earnestly: plead against a bill.

  3. To provide an argument or appeal: Your youth pleads for you in this instance.

  4. Law

    1. To put forward a plea of a specific nature in court: plead guilty.

    2. To make or answer an allegation in a legal proceeding.

    3. To address a court as a lawyer or advocate.

v.   tr.

  1. To assert as defense, vindication, or excuse; claim as a plea: plead illness.

  2. Law

    1. To present as an answer to a charge, indictment, or declaration made against one.

    2. To argue or present (a case) in a court or similar tribunal.


[Middle English pleden, plaiden, from Old French plaidier, from Medieval Latin placitāre, to appeal to the law, from Late Latin placitum, decree, opinion; see plea.]
plead'a·ble adj., plead'er n., plead'ing·ly adv.
Usage Note: In strict legal usage, one is said to plead guilty or plead not guilty but not to plead innocent. In nonlegal contexts, however, plead innocent is well established.
plead·ing   (plē'dĭng)   
n.  

  1. A plea; an entreaty.

  2. Law Advocacy of causes in court.

  3. Law

    1. A formal statement, generally written, propounding the cause of action or the defense in a case.

    2. pleadings The consecutive statements, allegations, and counterallegations made by plaintiff and defendant, or prosecutor and accused, in a legal proceeding.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

plead 
c.1250, "make a plea in court," from Anglo-Fr. pleder, O.Fr. pleider, plaidier, "agreement, discussion, lawsuit," from M.L. placitare, from L.L. placitum (see plea). Sense of "request, beg" first recorded 1390.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: plead
Pronunciation: 'plEd
Etymology: Anglo-French plaider to argue in a court of law, from Old French plaid legal action, trial —more at PLEA
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: plead·ed or pled also plead /'pled/; plead·ing
intransitive verb 1 : to make an allegation in an action or other legal proceeding; especially : to answer the pleading or charge of the other party by denying facts therein stated or by alleging new facts plead —Kansas Statutes Annotated> —see also ALTERNATIVE
2 : to make a specific plea <plead not guilty>; also : to make a plea of guilty plead to the lesser charge> transitive verb 1 : to allege in or by way of a pleading : state in a pleading pleads and proves facts showing actual malice, he cannot recover punitive damages —Kumaran v. Brotman, 617 North Eastern Reporter, Second Series 191 (1993)> <plead a case of fraudulent conveyance>
2 : to offer as an excuse plead ignorance of the law> —plead·able adjective —plead·er noun

Main Entry: plead·ing
Function: noun
1 a : one of the formal declarations (as a complaint or answer) exchanged by the parties in a legal proceeding (as a suit) setting forth claims, averments, allegations, denials, or defenses; also : a written document embodying such a declaration —see also RELATION BACK b : any of the allegations, averments, claims, denials, or defenses set forth in a pleading
alternative pleading
: a pleading that sets out an alternative theory in support of a plaintiff's claim for relief or a defendant's defense
amended pleading
: a pleading that is filed to replace an original pleading and that contains matters omitted from or not known at the time of the original pleading
re·spon·sive pleading
/ri-'spän-siv-/
: a pleading that directly responds to another pleading (as by denying in an answer allegations in a complaint)
sham pleading
: a pleading that is factually false, is not made in good faith, and that may be struck
supplemental pleading
: a pleading that supplements an earlier pleading with matters that have occurred or come into existence since the date of the original pleading
2 : a process or system through which the parties in a legal proceeding present their allegations
code pleading
: pleading (as fact pleading) done in accordance with the rules set down in a code
NOTE: Code pleading began in 1848 in New York State and was a departure from the complex system of common-law pleading, which included a lengthy set of stages by which a single issue was produced, and which was determined by the type of writ under which the plaintiff proceeded.
fact pleading
: pleading that requires a plaintiff to set out in the complaint facts sufficient to establish a cause of action —compare NOTICE PLEADING in this entry
notice pleading
: pleading that is characterized esp. by a simplified description sufficient to give notice of a claim or defense rather than by a technical account of any facts pertinent to the claim or defense —compare FACT PLEADING in this entry
NOTE: Notice pleading is allowed under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and in a majority of states, although complex cases often require substantial detail in the pleading.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Encyclopedia

pleading

in law, written presentation by a litigant in a lawsuit setting forth the facts upon which he claims legal relief or challenges the claims of his opponent. A pleading includes claims and counterclaims but not the evidence by which the litigant intends to prove his case.

Learn more about pleading with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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