Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use plead in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb

Plead means to present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case. Example: “The defendant has decided to plead not guilty.”

Examples of plead by meaning

verbTo present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case.

  • The defendant has decided to plead not guilty.
  • At the High Court in Aberdeen in September, NR pleaded guilty to a series of failings, including failing to tell the driver that it was unsafe to drive the train at the 75mph line speed.2023 October 18, “Network News: Carmont: NR pays nearly £1m in out-of-court settlements”, in RAIL, number 994, page 15
  • In his state case, Mangione pleaded not guilty to eight felony charges, including second-degree murder and several counts related to criminal possession of a weapon.2026 August 13, Jonathan Dienst, Adam Reiss, Erica Byfield, Matt Lavietes, Chloe Atkins, “Luigi Mangione expected to plead guilty in New...

verbTo beg, beseech, or implore, especially emotionally.

  • He pleaded with me not to leave the house.
  • He was pleading for mercy.

verbTo offer by way of excuse.

  • Not wishing to attend the banquet, I pleaded illness.
  • It is no defence to plead that you were only obeying orders.
  • The mayor, however, pleaded poverty and sent only £500.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 329, about Queniborough

More sentences with plead

  • The defendant pleaded insanity in the hope of getting a reduced sentence.From the entry insanity
  • He pleaded urgently for release from what he considered to be an unjust imprisonment.From the entry urgently
  • If you do not plead, a plea of not guilty will be entered for you.From the entry not guilty
  • Howsoever they pleaded, their pleas went unheard.From the entry howsoever
  • Her remains were never recovered, and Below pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.2026 August 6, Nicholas Muhoro, “An Ohio Teen Vanished During a One-Mile Drive in 1994. Her Locked Car Was Found Hours Later”, in Skip…. From the entry involuntary
  • He pleaded guilty and the case against him was deferred, with Jahn being placed on probation.2025 September 25, Amanda Musa, Priscilla Alvarez, Leigh Waldman, “A detainee is dead after officials say a shooter fired…. From the entry Jahn
  • Stephen Tyler Bieneman has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault over the incident at McMurdo Station.2023 November 8, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, “At trial, man accused of assaulting woman at US research station in Antarctica denies hurting…. From the entry McMurdo Station
  • An Oklahoma man has pleaded guilty after allegededly threatening to kill several Republican politicians, including Florida Gov.2023 August 4, Ken Miller, “Man pleads guilty to threatening DeSantis, other Republican politicians”, in Los Angeles Times. From the entry allegededly
  • I wanted to get inside the building so I could plead the blood of Jesus over it.2021 January 19, Travis M. Andrews, quoting Joshua Matthew Black, “The Capitol rioters kept posting incriminating things on social media.…. From the entry plead the blood of Jesus
  • The initiatee was asked to plead in various ways and taken through the ordeal.2021, Joseph I. Okogun, The Life of An Enigma: A Biographical Account of the Life and the Times of John Okogun Omovuon of Ewohimi…. From the entry initiatee
  • The brothers ultimately pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and bank fraud.2017 July 19, Matt Lakin, “Jake Butcher, disgraced East Tennessee banking kingpin, dies”, in Knoxville News Sentinel, retrieved 02 Sep 2017. From the entry play it straight
  • Chow has been rearraigned, and has pleaded not guilty to both new charges.2015 October 17, “Corrections: October 17, 2015”, in New York Times. From the entry rearraign
  • Satan is absolutely stymied when a believer pleads the blood of Jesus.2004, Wallace Shows, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, page 194. From the entry plead the blood of Jesus
  • We’d pull into a cove and the women would plead for a five-minute walk on the beach.1995, Paul C. Larsen, quoting Al Surprenant, “Don’t Give Up the Ship”, in To the Third Power: The Inside Story of Bill Koch’s Winning…. From the entry nauticalness
  • I pleaded with him not to resign, but he was immovable.1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 101. From the entry immovable
  • She isn't hanged, while in jail, because she pleads the belly.1994, Leslie Scalapino, Defoe, Sun and Moon Press, →ISBN. From the entry plead the belly
  • Israr Ahmad of Lahore, who belatedly jumped on the Shariat Bill bandwagon, pleaded for just the same.1987, The Concept, page 19. From the entry anti-Shiite
  • Like Chang Shih, Lü Tsu-ch’ien strongly and repeatedly pleaded with Chu Hsi to serve in the government.[1987, Wing-tsit Chan, “The Fortune of Chu Hsi”, in Chu Hsi: Life and Thought, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 3–4. From the entry Lushan
  • For unclockable hours I plead Sloughing my heat for the elm's gilded leaves.1976, Aspen Anthology - Issues 1-4, page xxi. From the entry unclockable
  • You come aroun' here again and you follow the boid 'n I plead self-defence.'1954, Ian Fleming, “Death of a Pelican”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 140. From the entry boid
  • "How about a K.C.?" Well, they don't plead in police courts."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html)…. From the entry kc
  • "How often I pleaded with poor Lucy to call him Thomas!"1924, P. G. Wodehouse, Bill the Conqueror, George H. Doran, published 1924, page 16. From the entry Roderick
  • I pleaded with my companions to spare his life, and they said, ‘Fie! shame upon you!1920 March, Alice Ballantine Kirjassoff (quote sourced to Kim Soan), “Formosa the Beautiful”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.…. From the entry fie
  • The defendant has pleaded a warren in gross: he does not make it appendant or appurtenant.1910, The English Reports - Volume 110, page 1361. From the entry warren
  • Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously.1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Methuen, →ISBN. From the entry waft
  • “Mom, can you come get me,” he pleads.2021 April 27, Amanda Hess, “Inject the Vaccine Fan Fiction Directly Into My Veins”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the…. From the entry eyeball
  • And I would plead that the situation is not unusual.2012, Kevin Barry, Dark Lies the Island: Stories, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 12. From the entry keep shtum
  • “I was to see him the halfweek before, to plead for a reduction in the taxes he has placed on us.2009, Laura Anne Gilman, Flesh and Fire (The Vineart War; 1), New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, published 2010, →ISBN, pages 392–393. From the entry cripple
  • “I'd like to try some typical cake.” Amandine pleaded.2009, Elena Scialtiel, Amandine: Amour. Glamour. On Tour, pages 90, 433. From the entry bonnag
  • The head of a ring of bodysnatchers who stole the bones of broadcaster Alistair Cooke pleaded guilty yesterday.2008 March 19, Daily Record, Glasgow, section 9. From the entry body snatcher
  • Like that well-meaning mom, parents employ Milquetoast speech whenever they whine, complain, plead, entreat, entice, bribe, and explain themselves persuasively.2007, John Rosemond, “Command, Compel, Confirm”, in Mary McNeil, editor, Parenting by the Book: Biblical Wisdom for Raising Your Child…. From the entry milquetoast
  • Gladys' conviction generated reactions from a cross-section of Nigerians who pleaded for the commutal of the death sentence to a jail-term.1985, Concord Weekly. From the entry commutal

Meaning of plead

  1. verb To present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case.
  2. verb To beg, beseech, or implore, especially emotionally.
  3. verb To offer by way of excuse.

Full definition of plead

Questions about plead in a sentence

How do you use plead in a sentence?
Plead is used as a verb. For example: “The defendant has decided to plead not guilty.”
What is a short sentence with plead?
“He was pleading for mercy.”
What does plead mean?
Plead means to present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plead (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use plead in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/plead. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.