Pleading

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pleading \Plead"ing\, n.
     The act of advocating, defending, or supporting, a cause by
     arguments.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Plead \Plead\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pleaded} (colloq. {Plead}or
     {Pled}); p. pr. & vb. n. {Pleading}.] [OE. pleden, plaiden,
     OF. plaidier, F. plaider, fr. LL. placitare, fr. placitum.
     See {Plea}.]
     1. To argue in support of a claim, or in defense against the
        claim of another; to urge reasons for or against a thing;
        to attempt to persuade one by argument or supplication; to
        speak by way of persuasion; as, to plead for the life of a
        criminal; to plead with a judge or with a father.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man
              pleadeth for his neighbor!            --Job xvi. 21.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Law) To present an answer, by allegation of fact, to the
        declaration of a plaintiff; to deny the plaintiff's
        declaration and demand, or to allege facts which show that
        ought not to recover in the suit; in a less strict sense,
        to make an allegation of fact in a cause; to carry on the
        allegations of the respective parties in a cause; to carry
        on a suit or plea. --Blackstone. Burrill. Stephen.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To contend; to struggle. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  pleading
       adj : expressing earnest entreaty; "the appealing and frightened
             look worn by an injured dog"; "she holds out her hand
             for money, importunate, insistent"; "a pleading note in
             her voice" [syn: {appealing}, {imploring}, {importunate}]
       n : (law) a statement in legal and logical form stating
           something on behalf of a party to a legal proceeding

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  41 Moby Thesaurus words for "pleading":
     adjuratory, answer, appealing, argument, argumentum, bar, begging,
     beseeching, case, cons, consideration, counsel, counterstatement,
     defense, demurrer, denial, elenchus, entreating, exception,
     ignoratio elenchi, imploring, legal profession, objection,
     plaidoyer, plea, pleadings, precative, precatory, pros,
     pros and cons, reason, rebuttal, refutation, reply, representation,
     response, riposte, special demurrer, special pleading,
     statement of defense, talking point
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PLEADING, practice. The statement in a logical, and legal form, of the facts 
  which constitute the plaintiff's cause of action, or the defendant's ground 
  of defence; it is the formal mode of alleging that on the record, which 
  would be the support, or the defence of the party in evidence. 8 T. R. 159; 
  Dougl. 278; Com. Dig. Pleader, A; Bac. Abr. Pleas and Pleading; Cowp. 682-3. 
  Or in the language of Lord Coke, good pleading consists in good matter 
  pleaded in good form, in apt time, and due order. Co. Lit. 303. In a general 
  sense, it is that which either party to a suit at law alleges for himself in 
  a court, with respect to the subject-matter of the cause, and the mode in 
  which it is carried on, including the demand which is made by the plaintiff; 
  but in strictness, it is no more than setting forth those facts or arguments 
  which show the justice or legal sufficiency of the plaintiff's demand, and 
  the defendant's defence, without including the statement of the demand 
  itself, which is contained in the declaration or count. Bac. Abr. Pleas and 
  Pleading. 
       2. The science of pleading was designed only to render the facts of 
  each party's case plain and intelligible, and to bring the matter in dispute 
  between them to judgment. Steph. Pl. 1. It is, as has been well observed, 
  admirably calculated for analyzing a cause, and extracting, like the roots 
  of an equation, the true points in dispute; and referring them with all 
  imaginable simplicity, to the court and jury. 1 Hale's C. L. 301, n 
       3. The parts of pleading have been considered as arrangeable under two 
  heads; first, the regular, or those which occur, in the ordinary course of a 
  suit; and secondly, the irregular, or collateral, being those which are 
  occasioned by mistakes in the pleadings on either side. 
       4. The regular parts are, 1st. The declaration or count. 2d. The plea, 
  which is either to the jurisdiction of the court, or suspending the action, 
  a's in the case of a parol demurrer, or in abatement, or in bar of the 
  action, or in replevin, an avowry or cognizance. 3d. The replication, and, 
  in case of an evasive plea, a new assignment, or in replevin the plea in bar 
  to the avowry or cognizance. 4th. The rejoinder, or, in replevin, the 
  replication to the plea in bar. 5th. The sur-rejoinder, being in replevin, 
  the rejoinder. 6th. The rebutter. 7th. The sur-rebutter. Vin. Abr. Pleas and 
  Pleading, C; Bac. Abr. Pleas and Pleadings, A. 8th. Pleas puis darrein 
  continuance, when the matter of defence arises pending the suit. 
       6. The irregular or collateral parts of Pleading are stated to be, 1st. 
  Demurrers to any art of the pleadings above mentioned. 2dly. Demurrers to 
  evidence given at trials. 3dly. Bills of exceptions. 4thly. Pleas in scire 
  facias. And, 5thly. Pleas in error. Vin. Abr. Pleas and Pleadings, C.; Bouv. 
  Inst. Index, h.t. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PLEADING, SPECIAL. By special pleading is meant the allegation of special or 
  new matter, as distinguished from a direct denial of matter previously 
  alleged on the opposite side. Gould on Pl. c. 1, s. 18.