plea
/pliː/ noun C1- An appeal, petition, urgent prayer or entreaty. · a plea for mercy· make a plea
- An excuse; an apology.
- That which is alleged or pleaded, in defense or in justification.
- That which is alleged by a party in support of his cause.
- An allegation of fact in a cause, as distinguished from a demurrer.
- The defendant’s answer to the plaintiff’s declaration and demand.
- A cause in court; a lawsuit; as, the Court of Common Pleas.
Plural pleas
From the library
Villefort immediately rose from table and quitted the room upon the plea of urgent business; he soon, however, returned, his whole face beaming with delight.
WOLF, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf’s right to eat him.
Diana felt that _she_ could never have resisted Gilbert’s plea.
Since the day by the pond when she had refused to listen to his plea for forgiveness, Gilbert, save for the aforesaid determined rivalry, had evinced no recognition whatever of the existence of Anne Shirley.
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