Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An occasional (less correct) preterit and past participle of plead.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • colloq. imp. & p. p. of plead

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb North America, Scotland Simple past tense and past participle of plead.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • She bowed her head, term pled her fingers under her chin, just the way we do, and she said silent prayers that lasted and lasted.

    Flowers In The Attic Andrews, V. C. 1979

  • In both cases, what remains to be shown is that the process can be uncou­pled from the results — that Wal-Mart could, if it wished to, deliver its prod­ucts at prices lower than any­one else and still act respon­si­bly, or that Wikipedia’s process could yield results as rich and reli­able as any­thing offered by an edited ency­clo­pe­dia.

    Micro vs. Macro in a Duel to the Death « Snarkmarket 2005

  • The question runs as follows: "For years I've wondered if spell-check is responsible for the disappearance of the word pled (as in he pled guilty vs. the current he pleaded guilty) and similar words that were in common usage until about twenty or so years ago.

    OUPblog 2009

  • I prefer "pled" simply because it is less unwieldy.

    Craig Issues Statement: "I Should Not Have Pled Guilty" 2009

  • I prefer "pled" simply because it is less unwieldy.

    Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Craig Issues Statement: "I Should Not Have Pled Guilty" 2009

  • And I think we ` re going down a slippery slope when we start taking children away before they ` re even born, based upon acts that the man pled guilty to, Nancy, pled, meaning he may have felt sorry for what he did.

    CNN Transcript Oct 12, 2005 2005

  • In Charleston, one "pled kyawds," but that "pled" lasts longer than a simple

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XI No 2 1984

  • The Supreme Court has increasingly closed the courthouse doors to those with constitutional claims by limiting when federal officers can be sued, restricting who has standing to sue in federal court, increasing the facts that must be pled to get into federal court, expanding sovereign immunity that keeps state governments from being held accountable, shifting contested matters to arbitration and away from juries, and limiting punitive damages.

    The Conservative Assault on the Constitution Erwin Chemerinsky 2010

  • His situation was identical to that of John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban,” except that Walker was indicted and pled guilty to crimes.

    The Conservative Assault on the Constitution Erwin Chemerinsky 2010

  • These judgments would not have exonerated Wilkinson; the crimes to which he pled guilty would have led to a very long incarceration, probably imprisonment for the rest of his life.

    The Conservative Assault on the Constitution Erwin Chemerinsky 2010

Comments

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  • Aha! So 0 wordies list this. I came to see if anyone had a strong opinion as to what the past tense of "plead" should be, as Merriam-Webster says both pled and pleaded are words.

    I prefer pleaded but can't articulate reasons.

    August 14, 2008

  • It's pleaded for me too. Now, dived or dove?

    August 14, 2008

  • Pleaded. Dove. Not that you asked me. :-)

    August 15, 2008

  • But whenever I pled for a glimpse he would again shake his head:

    —Max Beerbohm, '"Savonarola" Brown'

    An unusual example of a careful writer of England using this form.

    August 3, 2009