Plea | Mean of plea in English Dictionary

/ˈpliː/

• Noun
• a serious and emotional request for something
1. We are making a plea to all companies to stop polluting the environment.
2. No one heard his pleas for help.
3. the prisoner's passionate/desperate/fervent plea for mercy
• a statement in which a person who has been accused of a crime says in court that he or she is guilty or not guilty of the crime
1. The defendant entered a plea of not guilty.
2. a guilty plea
• a statement in which a person says that he or she is guilty of a particular crime
1. She and her lawyers accepted a lesser plea [=they said that she was guilty of a less serious crime] of manslaughter.

• a reason or excuse for committing a crime
1. He murdered his wife and got off on an insanity plea. [=the court said that he was not guilty because he was insane]