pret, plet

A Middle English form of plea. plea (plē), n. [ plea Hence plead, v.] 1. In law: (a) A suit or action; the prese presentation of a cause of action to the court. Pleas were formerly distinguished as pleas of the crown, or public prosecutions, usually in criminal cases, and common pleas, or suits between subjects or commoners in civil controversies, whence this name was given to a court for such actions, the original of which was held in an outer court of the Tower of London, while the King's Bench was held in an inner court. Davis, Law in Shak. ( b ) In a general sense, that which is urged by or on behalf of a litigant, in support of his claim or defense; the contention of either party. (c) Specifically, in modern practice: (1) At common law, a document (or in some inferior courts an oral statement) on the defendant's part, denying the allegations of the plaintiff's declaration, or alleging new matter (that is, matter not shown by the plaintiff's pleading) as cause why the action should not be maintained. (2) In equity, a document alleging new matter as a cause why the defendant should not be required to answer the complainant's bill. (d) In Scots law, a short and concise note of the grounds on which the action or defense is to be maintained, without argument.-2. That which is alleged in support, justification, or defense; an urgent argument; a reason; a pleading; an excuse; an apology: as, a plea for the reduction of taxation; a plea for rationalism. And thus I leave it as a declared truth that neither the feare of sects, no, nor rebellion, can be a fit plea to stay Milton, Church-Government, i. 7. reformation. Hast thou no other plea for thy self but that thy sins Stilling fleet, Sermons, I. ii. were fatal? IMG:content-0393.png:[blocks in formation] The Spaniards subdued the Indians under plea of converting them to Christianity. H. Spencer , Social Statics, p. 178. The invasion of private property under the doctrinaire's plea of the general good. N. A. Rev. , CXLIII. 295. 4†. Proposition; proposal. And yet shall I make to yow a feire plee : com with me to Bredigan, where the kynge Arthur me abideth, and do hym homage, as the barouns seyen that ye owe for to do, and I shall yelde yow the castell all quyte. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 365. 5t. A dispute or controversy; a quarrel. Make a plee betwyx glotony and thy pur e. Nevyrthele e be ware to which of thise two thow be advocate, or what sentens thou geue betwyx them, for glotony hath effectualle wytnes. Political Poems , etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 30. And wow but they were lovers dear, And ioved fu' constant lie; But aye the mair when they fell out, The sairer was their plea . Young Benjie (Child's Ballads, II. 300). Court of Common Pleas. See court. - Declinatory, dilatory, equitable plea. See the adjectives. - Double plea, in law, a plea in which the defendant alleges two different matters in bar of the action. Foreign plea. (a) In old Eng. law, a plea in either a civil or a criminal case that the matter arose or the prisoner was taken in another county than that where it is sought to try him, and therefore that the court or judge of the latter place has no jurisdiction of the case. It was one kind of plea to the jurisdiction, but distinguished from other kinds by the fact that it resulted in removing the cause. (b) Another litigation elsewhere, on the same subject, and between the same parties, or between the creditor and a third party sought to be held for the same debt. When used in this sense it is commonly in reference to the question whether arrest in one action is a satisfaction or bar to the other. I uable, non-i uable, etc., plea. See the adjectives. - Plea in abatement, plea in avoidance, plea in bar, etc. See abatement, etc. Plea of auterfois acquit, of auterfois attaint, of auterfois convict, pleas in criminal cases, that the accused has been already acquitted, attainted, or convicted, as the case may be, on a former trial for the same offense, the object of which is to invoke the protection of the rule in law that a man cannot be twice put in jeopardy for the same cause.Plea of non-claim. See non - claim. Plea of panel, in Scotland, the plea of guilty or of not guilty. - Plea of parole demurrer. Same as age -prayer. Plea of pregnancy. See pregnancy. Pleas of the crown, public prosecution in criminal cases; hence, the body of English criminal law. Plea to the jurisdiction. See jurisdiction.-Special plea, a plea which admits the truth of the declaration, but alleges special or new matter in avoidance. =Syn. 1. Argument, Plea. See argument. 2. Ex cuse, etc. See apology. pleach (plēch), v. t. [ Bende as a bowe, or vynes that men pleche , And cleme it, mose it, bynde it softe aboute. 4547 Seeing I have sworn by the pale temples' band And poppied hair of gold Perse phone, Sad-tre ed and pleached low down about her brows. A. C. Swinburne , At Eleusis. 2. To form by intermingling or interweaving. The prince and Count Claudio, walking in a thick- pleached alley in mine orchard, were thus much over- heard. Shak ., Much Ado, i. 2. 10. Plundered vines, teeming exhaustle , pleach'd New growth. Keats , Endymion, iii. 3. To fold, as the arms. Wouldst thou be window'd in great Rome and see Thy master thus with pleach'd arms, bending down His corrigible neck, his face subdued To penetrative shame? pleasance dier, plead: see plead.] 1. One who pleads; one who presents pleas for or against a claim, allegation, etc.; technically, a lawyer who pleads a cause or argues in a court of justice (the original me meaning of the term), or who drafts, prepares, or devises pleadings. The thridde buffet sign if i eth these false pletours , men of lawe, that sellen and a-peire theire neyghbours be-hinde here bakke for couetise and envye. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 434. Dryden, Aurengzebe, iii. 1. So fair a pleader any cause may gain. [Obsolete or archaic in all uses.] One who pleaches. pleacher (plē'chėr), n. The topiarius, or pleacher, was kept actively at work trimming the hedges and trellis walks. Portfolio , No. 240, p. 231. plead (plēd), v.; pret. and pp. pleaded, rarely pled, plead (pled), ppr. pleading. [ G. plädiren ) = Pr. plaidejar, plai deiar, playejar, plaegar = Sp. pleitear = Pg. pleitear = It. pia tegg i are, piatire, plead, offer a plea, plait, a plea: see plea.] I. in trans. 1. In law, to present an answer to the declaration or complaint of a plaintiff, or the charge of a prosecutor; deny the plaintiff's declaration or complaint, or allege facts relied on as showing that he ought not to recover in the suit. The plaintiff is said to declare, complain, or allege; the defendant pleads to his complaint or declaration. The crown or the state prosecutes an offender, and the offender pleads guilty or not guilty, confe ing or denying the charge. Be ye noght ware how false Polyphete Is now aboute eftsones for to plete And brynge on yow advocacies newe? Chaucer, Troilus, ii. 1468. 2. To urge a plea, an argument, or an excuse for or against a claim, or in support, justifica- tion, extenuation, etc.; endeavor to persuade by argument or supplication; urge reasons or use argument: as, to plead with a judge for a criminal or in his favor; to plead with a wrong- doer, urging him to reform. A! lorde, a-yeenst the wee wole nat plette , For as thou wouledyst, hit is, and was. Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 168. I will plead against it with my life. Shak., M. for M., iv. 2. 192. The drooping child who prays in vain to live, And pleads for help its parent cannot give. O. W. Holmes , Ded. of Pittsfield Cemetery. 3t. To sue; make application; enter a plea or an argument. If a Woman can prove her Husband to have been thrice drunk, by the ancient Laws of Spain she may plead for a Divorce from him. Howell , Letters, ii. 54. 4. To argue or prosecute causes; contend. Whan shal your cursed pletynge have an ende? Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. 495. There do the Advocats and Civilians pleade, and discu e matters of controvercie. Coryat, Crudities, I. 31. II. trans . 1. To discu , defend, and attempt to maintain by arguments or reasons offered to the person or tribunal that has the power of determining; argue: as, to plead a cause before a court or jury. 2. To urge or allege in extenuation, justification, or defense; adduce in proof, support, or vindication: as, to plead poverty as an excuse for stealing. What plead you to your father's accusation? Beau. and Fl., Laws of Candy, v. 1. But who are we to make complaint, Or dare to plead , in times like these, The weakne of our love of ease? Whittier , Thy Will be Done. 3. To set forth in a plea or defense; interpose a plea of: as, to plead a statute of limitations. I... humbly crave pardon at adventure, having nothing that I can think of to plead . N. Ward, Simple Cobler, p. 91. The punishment for this, by pleading benefit of clergy, which of course was always done, was reduced to a very minimum-something amounting to the supposed burning of the hand with a barely warm or cold iron. Ashton , Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, II. 195. pleadable (plē'da-bl), a . [ -able .] Capable of being pleaded; capable of being alleged in proof, defense, or vindication: as, a right or privilege pleadable at law. Nor bargaine or sale that he [an excommunicate] maketh is auaileable in law, neither anie of his acts whatsoever pleadable , whereby he liueth as an outlaw. Holinshed, Descrip. of England, ii. 15. Palladius , Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 76. Pleadable briefst, in Scots law , precepts directed to the mine. Round thee blow, self - pleached deep, sheriffs, who thereupon cite parties, and hear and deter Bramble roses, faint and pale, And long purples of the dale. pleader (plēʼdėr), n. [ lish bar, whose busine consists in giving opinions, and especially in drawing special and difficult pleadings and other documents. In the days of technical common-law procedure, when the statement of the cause of action was presented in different counts varying as to details so as to cover every anticipated variation of circumstances, the function of the special pleader was important to the English practitioner, whether in preparing documents or in detecting defects in those of the adversary. pleading (plē'ding), n. [ The lawyer is judged by the virtue of his pleading , and not by i ue of the cause. Bacon , Advancement of Learning, ii. 189. I fling my heart into your lap Without a word of pleading . Whittier, Among the Hills. 2. In law: (a) The document (or in some inferior courts an oral statement) formally setting forth the cause of action or the defense of a party. The objects of pleading are to inform the adverse party what questions he must be prepared to meet at the trial; to inform the court what questions are to be determined; and to preserve a record which, with the verdict or judgment, shall show what matters are not afterward to be drawn in question. The term pleadings is applied to the documents on either side, whether a declaration, complaint, or bill with demurrer, or a declaration with plea, etc., or a bill or complaint with plea or answer, etc., which form the i ue on which it is proposed to try the cause. See i ue, 10. (b) The formal allegation on the record of that which is to be relied on as the support of the party's case in evidence. (c) The rules and usages of framing such documents, and of the sufficiency of their contents; the art of drawing pleadings. (d) pl. (1) The written allegations made in alternate series by the plaintiff and the defendant of their respective grounds of action and defense, terminating in propositions distinctly affirmed on one side and denied on the other, called the i ue. Heard. (2) In a more limited sense, only those allegations or altercations which are subsequent to the count or declaration. Gould. Code pleading, color in pleadingt, oral pleading. See code, color, oral. Pleading over going on to respond by pleading, after a previous pleading has been adjudged insufficient, or has been withdrawn. - Special pleading. (a) The allegation of special or new matter, as distinguished from a direct denial of matter previously alleged on the other side. (b) The science of pleading, which, until the English Common-law Procedure Act, in 1852, constituted a distinct branch of the law, having the merit of developing the points in controversy with great precision. Its strictne and subtlety were frequently a subject of complaint, and one of the objects of the act was to relax and simplify its rules. (c) In popular use, the specious but unsound or unfair argumentation of one whose aim is victory rather than truth. Not one of these [medieval wars] was simply a war of aggre ion, except perhaps the Norman Conquest; and we all know what an amount of special pleading was thought nece ary to justify that. Stubbs , Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 217. pleadingly (plē'ding-li), adv . In a pleading manner; by supplication. pleading-place (plēʼding-plās), n . A court of justice. Cowley , Pindaric Odes, xiii. 5. [Rare.] pleas ablet (ple'za-bl), a . [ please + -able .] Capable of being pleased. I love not to have to do with men which be neither grateful nor pleasable . North umber land , quoted in R. W. Dixon's Hist. Church [of Eng., xx., note. pleasance (plez'ans), n . [Early mod. E. also pleas a unce ; plesance , plesaunce , pleas- aunce, plaisance , F. plaisance = Pr. pla- zensa = It. piacenza , pleasure, placentia , suavity, courteousne , lit. 'pleasingne ,' placen (t-) s , pleasing, dear: see pleasant .] 1. Pleasant manners; agreeable behavior; com- plaisance. Wrapped under humble chere, Under plesaunce , and under bisy peyne. Chaucer , Squire's Tale, 1. 501. 2. Pleasure; satisfaction; enjoyment; delight. He be hold ethe in alle whiche of hem is most to his plesance, and to hire anon he send ethe or caste the a Ryng fro his Fyngre. Mandeville , Travels, p. 39. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia IMG:content-0395.png:[blocks in formation] Chaucer , Clerk's Tale, 1. 602. foon. Ser, if it be your will and your pleas a unce , Her am I come to offer my seruice To your lordshippe, right as ye list to devise. They bestow their silver on courtesans, pleasants , and flatterers. Holland , tr. of Plutarch, p. 169. ( Encyc . Dict .) Generydes (E. E. T. S.), i. 654. pleasantly (plez'ant-li), adv . 1. In a pleasant 4. A garden, especially a pleasure-garden, or part of a garden attached to a mansion but secluded or screened by trees, shrubs, and close hedges. The window...commanded a delightful view of what was called the Pleasance -a space of ground enclosed and decorated with arches, trophies, statues, fountains, and other architectural monuments, which formed one acce from the castle itself into the garden. Scott , Kenilworth, xxvi. Meanwhile the party had broken up, and wandered away by twos and threes, among trim gardens, and pleas aunces , and clipped yew-walks. Kingsley , Westward Ho. 5. A kind of lawn or gauze in use in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In one instance at least it is mentioned as used for a napkin. It was sometimes black. Moreover there is j. kome in to Englond a knyght out of Spayne, with a kercheff of plesaunce i wrapped aboute hys arme; the wych knyght wyl renne a cours wyth a sharpe spere for his sovereyn lady sake. Paston Letters, I. 41. Over their garmentes were vochettes of pleasauntes , rouled with crymosyne velvet, and set with letters of gold like carrettes, their heades rouled in pleasauntes and typpers lyke the Egipcians. Hall , Henry VIII., f. 7. ( Hall i well .) [Archaic in all senses.] Kerchief of pleas an cet. See kerchief . pleasancyt (plez'an-si), n . [As pleasance (see -cy ).] Pleasantne . pleasant (plezʼant), a . and n . [Early mod. E. also pleasaunt ; * plesant , pleas a und , pleisant , plesant , plaisant , F. plaisant = It. pia cente , piagente , placen ( t- ) s , pleasing, charming, dear, ppr. of placere , please: see please .] I. a . 1. Pleasing; delightful; agreeable; grate manner. (a) So as to please or gratify the senses or the mind. It standeth very pleasantly in a clift betweene two hilles. Hakluyt's Voyages , II. 104. All these things were carried so pleasantly as within a weeke they became Masters, making it their delight to heare the trees thunder as they fell. Quoted in Capt . John Smith's Works, I. 197. (b) Merrily; cheerfully; happily. It is impo ible to live pleasantly without living wisely, and well, and justly; and it is impo ible to live wisely, and well, and justly without living pleasantly . Quoted in W. Wallace's Epicureanism, p. 155. 21. Jestingly; jocularly. This embellishment carries an odd appearance, and has occasioned strangers sometimes to ask us pleasantly , "Whether we fastened our walls with tenpenny nails?" Gilbert White, Nat. Hist. of Selborne, letter iv. pleasantne (plez'ant-nes), n. 1. Pleasing or agreeable character or quality; the quality of being pleasing or of affording pleasure. Her ways are ways of pleasantne , and all her paths are peace. Prov. iii. 17. All the way from the white Promontory to this Plain is exceeding Rocky; but here the pleasantne of the Road makes you amends for the former labour. Maundrell , Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 53. Bewitched with the pleasantne e of the fruit to the taste and sight. Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 25. In all satisfaction of desire there is pleasure, and thus pleasantne in an object is a nece ary incident of its being good. T. H. Green , Prolegomena to Ethics, § 171. 2. Vivacity; gaiety. It was refreshing, but composed, like the pleasantne of youth tempered with the gravity of age. South . 3t. Jocularity; pleasantry. pleasantry (plez'an-tri), n.; pl. pleasantries (-triz). [F. plaisanterie = It. pia center i a , pia genteria , pleasantry; as pleasant + -ry.] -ry . ] 1. J. Dennys (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 175). Good humor; cheerfulne ; sprightline . ful to the mind or to the senses. The bocher sweet, the pleasant flounder thin. How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Ps. cxxxiii. 1. This summer morning makes vs couetous To take the profit of the pleasant aire. Heywood, If you Know not Me, ii. This latter [Lord Weston] goes to France, Savoy, Venice, and so returns by Florence - a pleasant Journey, for he carrieth Presents with him from King and Queen. Howell , Letters, I. v. 38. IMG:content-0396.png:[blocks in formation] And meant to make ye pleasant , and not weary. Fletcher, Spanish Curate, Prol. Nay, then, I'm heartily pleasant , and as merry As one that owes no malice. Middle ton , More Di emblers besides Women, iii. 2. Happy who in his verse can gently steer From grave to light, from pleasant to severe. The harshne of reasoning is not a little softened and smoothed by the infusions of mirth and pleasantry . Add is on . But let us leave the serious reflections, and converse with our usual pleasantry . B. Franklin , Autobiography, p. 295. 2. Humorousne ; jocularity; witticism; raillery; wit. He saw my distre , and, with a kind of benevolent pleasantry , asked me if I would let him gue any more. Mi Burney , Evelina, lxii. Cowper , Epistle to J. Hill. The keen observation and ironical pleasantry of a finished man of the world. Macaulay . The harmle play of pleasantry and mirth. 3. A sprightly or humorous saying; a jest. The grave abound in pleasantries , the dull in repartees and points of wit. Add is on . 4. A laughable trick; a prank; a caper: as, the pleasantries of monkeys. Add is on . (Worces ter .)=Syn. 2. Sport, fun, facetiousne , jocosene , drol lery. Dryden and Soames , tr. of Boileau's Art of Poetry, i. 76. pleasant-spirited (plez'ant-spir"i-ted), a . Hav3. Jocular; witty; facetious. They all agreed; so, turning all to game And pleasaunt bord, they past forth on their way. Spenser, F. Q., IV. iv. 13. It does become you well to make us merry: I have heard often of your pleasant vein. Can a ghost laugh Beau , and Fl . , Captain, iii. 3. when you are pleasant with him? Lamb , New-Year's Eve. =Syn. 1. Pleasant , Pleasing , Agreeable , Congenial , gratify ing, acceptable, welcome. Pleasing is the strongest, and agreeable the weakest of the first four words. Pleasant may be, and generally is, applied to things in the concrete: as, pleasant weather. Pleasing applies generally to things not physical: as, a pleasant face; a pleasing aspect, variety. Pleasant suggests the effect produced, pleasing the power of producing it; hence we may say a pleasant or a pleasing variety. Pleasing must be objec mood. Agreeable and congenial are used of social qualities tive, pleasant may be subjective: as, he was in a pleasant and relations, but the latter goes deeper, expre ing a natural suitablene , on the part of a person or thing, to the tastes, habits, temperament, or pa ing mood of the person concerned. ing a pleasant spirit; cheerful; merry. D. Pedro. A pleasant - spirited lady. Leon. There's little of the melancholy element in her. Shak., Much Ado, ii. 1. 355. pleasant-tongued (plez'ant-tungd), a . Having pleasing speech. pleasauncet, n. An obsolete form of pleasance . please (plēz), v .; pret. and pp. pleased , ppr. pleasing . [ plesen , plesir , plaisir , also plere, pleire , F. plaire = Pr. placer = Sp. placer = Pg . pracer = It. piacere , piagere , placere , please, be agreeable, welcome, or acceptable, satisfy, impers. placet (with dat. mihi , etc.), it pleases, suits (me, etc.), it is (my) opinion or resolve, etc. From the L. placere are plead, complacent , complaisant , placid , placate , also ult. E. pleasant, pleasance, pleasure , plea , etc. In constructions and development please is similar to like3 , v.] I. trans. 1. To be agreeable to; suit; satisfy; seem good to: used im pleaser personally, and followed by an object, originally dative, of the person: same as like3 , I., 1. This impersonal construction with the indirect object of the person has given way in more familiar use to a personal construction, the original dative you , in if you please , for example, being now taken as the subject. (See II., 1.) The word in this sense was formerly common in polite request, may it please you , or if it please you , or, elliptically, please you : a mode of speech still common in addre ing a judge or persons of rank or position: as, may it please the court; if it please your honor; please your worship etc. Compare II., 1. It pleased the Father that in him should all fulne dwell. Col. i. 19. Please you, lords, In sight of both our battles we may meet. Shak ., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 1. 178. The toils and troubles, All that is bur the no us in authority, Please you lay it on me. Middle ton ( and another ), Mayor of Queen borough, i. 1. It is very likely, an 't please your Worship, that I should bullock him; I have marks enow about my body to show of his cruelty to me. Fielding, Tom Jones, ii. 6. 2. To excite agreeable sensations or emotions in; impart satisfaction, gratification, pleasure, or delight to; gratify; content. The elther suster vndirstode hym wele, and gretly was plesed with his doctryne. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. 5. I know a Trout taken with a fly of your own making will please you better than twenty with one of mine. Cotton, in Walton's Angler, ii. 247. What next I bring shall please Thy wish exactly to thy heart's desire. Milton, P. L., viii. 449. Pleas'd in Mind, he calls a Chair, Adjusts, and combs, and courts the Fair. Congreve, An Impo ible Thing. 'Tis certainly very commendable in the King, who pleases himself in Planting and Pruning the Trees with his own Hand, to make use of no other Trees but what the Neighbouring Woods afford. Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 209. If it were not to please you, I see no nece ity of our parting. Dryden, Mock Astrologer, iv. Pleased with his daily task, or, if not pleased , Contented. Words worth, Prelude, vi. Please the pigs. See pig1 . - To be pleased (followed by an infinitive with to ). (a) To be willing or well inclined. Here also they are pleased to shew a stone, which, they say, spoke on that question. Pococke , Description of the East, II. 1. 9. Many of our most skillful painters were pleased to recommend this author to me. Dryden, Parallel of Poetry and Painting. (b) To think fit or have the complaisance or kindne ; condescend; be good enough; be so kind as: an expre ion of courtesy, often used ironically. IMG:content-0397.png:[blocks in formation] [In this use common in polite request: as, please let me pa ; especially in the phrase if you please (see I., 1), by ellipsis, in familiar use, please : as, let me pa , please .] 2. To give pleasure; win approval. For we that live to please must please to live. Johnson, Prol. on Opening of Drury Lane Theatre. Let her be comprehended in the frame Of these illusions, or they please no more. Words worth, Sonnets, iii. 3. IMG:content-0398.png:[blocks in formation] The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia pleasing