See Also: plea(medicine)
plea(1)(dictionary)
plea(2)(dictionary)
Plea(law)
plea(dictionary)
Cop A Plea(law)
SHAM PLEA(law)
Plea Bargaining(law)
Plea Bargain(law)
FOREIGN PLEA(law)

plea(1) (iou)



plea noun. [pli:] ME.
[Anglo-Norman ple, plai, Old French plait, Old & mod. French plaid agreement, talk, lawsuit, discussion from Latin placitum decision, decree, use as noun of neut. pa. pple of placere PLEASE. Cf. PLEAD.]
I. Law.
A suit or action at law; the presentation of an action in court. Now Hist. & Scot. ME.
J. Arbuthnot A plea between two country esquires about a barren acre.
a. A pleading; an allegation or statement formally made by a party to the court in support of his or her case. Now chiefly Scots Law. LME.
b. A formal statement by or on behalf of a prisoner or defendant, alleging facts either in answer to the indictment or to a plaintiff's declaration or bill or showing cause why the prisoner or defendant should not be compelled to answer. Freq. with specifying word. LME.
defence plea, declinatory plea, peremptory plea, etc.
B. Bainbridge Exercising extreme caution in dealing with pleas of insanity.
c. ellipt. A plea of guilty. Freq. in cop a plea (US slang), plead guilty, usu. as part of a bargain or agreement with the prosecution. E20.
II. gen.
Controversy, debate, strife; a quarrel. Now Scot. ME.
That which is pleaded or maintained, esp. in justification; an appeal, an argument; an apology, an excuse; a demand, a request, an entreaty. M16.
Milton So spoke the Fiend, and with necessity, The tyrant's plea excused his devilish deeds. D. Jacobson Tears in their eyes, and pleas for forgiveness falling from their lips. P. Grosskurth Jones was to make a plea..to Freud to give..Klein a fair hearing.
transf. That which is demanded by pleading; a claim. rare (Shakes.). Only in L16.
Phrases: common pleas (obsolete exc. Hist.) (a) civil actions at law brought by one subject against another (cf. Pleas of the Crown below); (b) (more fully Court of Common Pleas) the court where such actions were heard. hold a plea try an action. hold pleas try actions at law, have jurisdiction. plea-in-bar = special plea(-in-bar) below. plea-in-law Scot. a statement of the legal grounds of a civil action. plea of tender: see TENDER noun2 1. Pleas of the Crown (obsolete exc. Hist.) (a) legal proceedings in which the Crown had a financial interest, as by exacting a fine, as distinct from those involving claims between subjects (cf. common pleas above); (b) legal proceedings including all criminal proceedings, as involving conduct held to be committed against the Crown (in Scotland, limited to proceedings concerned with murder, rape, robbery, and arson). special plea(-in-bar) Law a plea either in abatement or in bar of an action or prosecution, alleging a new fact, and not merely disputing the ground of action or charge.
Comb.: plea bargain (orig. US) an arrangement entered into by plea-bargaining; plea-bargaining (orig. US) a practice whereby a defendant pleads guilty to a reduced charge in exchange for the prosecution's cooperation in securing a more lenient sentence or an agreement to drop other charges; plea-house rare a court of law.