*plea*

n. [ OF. desplaisance, F. déplaisance. Cf. Displacency. ] Displeasure; discontent; annoyance. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OF. desplaisant, F. déplaisant. See Displease. ] Unpleasing; offensive; unpleasant. [ Obs. ] Speed. -- Dis*pleas"ant*ly, adv. [Obs.] Strype. -- Dis*pleas"ant*ness, n. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Displeased p. pr. & vb. n. Displeasing. ] [ OF. desplaisir, whence F. déplaisir displeasure; pref. des- (L. dis-) + plaisir to please. See Please, and cf. Displeasure. ] 1. To make not pleased; to excite a feeling of disapprobation or dislike in; to be disagreeable to; to offend; to vex; -- often followed by with or at. It usually expresses less than to anger, vex, irritate, or provoke. [ 1913 Webster ]

God was displeased with this thing. 1 Chron. xxi. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wilt thou be displeased at us forever? Psalms lxxxv. 5 (Bk. of Com. Prayer). [ 1913 Webster ]

This virtuous plaster will displease
Your tender sides. J. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

Adversity is so wholesome . . . why should we be displeased therewith? Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fail to satisfy; to miss of. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I shall displease my ends else. Beau. & Fl.

Syn. -- To offend; disgust; vex; annoy; dissatisfy; chafe; anger; provoke; affront. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To give displeasure or offense. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With displeasure. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Displeasure. [ R. ] South. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who displeases. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Causing displeasure or dissatisfaction; offensive; disagreeable. -- Dis*pleas"ing*ly, adv. -- Dis*pleas"ing*ness, n. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. dis- + pleasure: cf. OF. desplaisir, F. déplaisir. Cf. Displease. ] 1. The feeling of one who is displeased; irritation or uneasiness of the mind, occasioned by anything that counteracts desire or command, or which opposes justice or a sense of propriety; disapprobation; dislike; dissatisfaction; disfavor; indignation. [ 1913 Webster ]

O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Ps. vi. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

Undoubtedly he will relent, and turn
From his displeasure. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which displeases; cause of irritation or annoyance; offense; injury. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hast thou delight to see a wretched man
Do outrage and displeasure to himself? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. State of disgrace or disfavor; disfavor. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He went into Poland, being in displeasure with the pope for overmuch familiarity. Peacham.

Syn. -- Dissatisfaction; disapprobation; disfavor; distaste; dislike; anger; hate; aversion; indignation; offense. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To displease. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. em- (L. in) + plead: cf. F. emplaidier. Cf. Implead. ] To accuse; to indict. See Implead. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. Same as Interplead. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. not bound by rule or law or convention. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

bewildered by the old go-as-you-please liberty of alliterative rhythm. George Saintsbury [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Bot.) An annual European false flax (Camelina sativa) having small white flowers; cultivated since Neolithic times as a source of fiber and for its oil-rich seeds; widely naturalized in North America.
Syn. -- gold of pleasure, Camelina sativa. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. Requiring great patience and effort and skill; demanding; -- of persons. Opposite of undemanding.
Syn. -- harsh, demanding. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To pleach; to interweave. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Impleaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Impleading. ] [ Cf. Emplead. ] (Law) To institute and prosecute a suit against, in court; to sue or prosecute at law; hence, to accuse; to impeach. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To sue at law. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not admitting excuse, evasion, or plea; rigorous. [ R. ] T. Adams. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) One who prosecutes or sues another. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Unpleasing; displeasing. [ Obs. ] Overbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Cf. L. inexplebilis; pref. in- not + explere to fill up. See Expletion. ] Insatiably. [ Obs. ] Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Law) To plead against each other, or go to trial between themselves, as the claimants in an in an interpleader. See Interpleader. [ Written also enterplead. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who interpleads. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A proceeding devised to enable a person, of whom the same debt, duty, or thing is claimed adversely by two or more parties, to compel them to litigate the right or title between themselves, and thereby to relieve himself from the suits which they might otherwise bring against him. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One whose motive is to please men or the world, rather than God. Eph. vi. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To err in pleading. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) An error in pleading. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To please excessively. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. plee, plai, plait, fr. OF. plait, plaid, plet, LL. placitum judgment, decision, assembly, court, fr. L. placitum that which is pleasing, an opinion, sentiment, from placere to please. See Please, and cf. Placit, Plead. ] 1. (Law) That which is alleged by a party in support of his cause; in a stricter sense, an allegation of fact in a cause, as distinguished from a demurrer; in a still more limited sense, and in modern practice, the defendant's answer to the plaintiff's declaration and demand. That which the plaintiff alleges in his declaration is answered and repelled or justified by the defendant's plea. In chancery practice, a plea is a special answer showing or relying upon one or more things as a cause why the suit should be either dismissed, delayed, or barred. In criminal practice, the plea is the defendant's formal answer to the indictment or information presented against him. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A cause in court; a lawsuit; as, the Court of Common Pleas. See under Common. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Supreme Judicial Court shall have cognizance of pleas real, personal, and mixed. Laws of Massachusetts. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is alleged or pleaded, in defense or in justification; an excuse; an apology. “Necessity, the tyrant's plea.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

No plea must serve; 't is cruelty to spare. Denham. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An urgent prayer or entreaty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pleas of the crown (Eng. Law), criminal actions. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pleached p. pr. & vb. n. Pleaching. ] [ Cf. OF. plaissier to bend, and also F. plisser to plait, L. plicare, plicitum, to fold, lay, or wind together. Cf. Plash to pleach. ] To unite by interweaving, as branches of trees; to plash; to interlock. “The pleached bower.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pleaded (colloq. Plead r 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 he 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 ]

v. t. 1. To discuss, defend, and attempt to maintain by arguments or reasons presented to a tribunal or person having uthority to determine; to argue at the bar; as, to plead a cause before a court or jury. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every man should plead his own matter. Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense, argue is more generally used by lawyers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To allege or cite in a legal plea or defense, or for repelling a demand in law; to answer to an indictment; as, to plead usury; to plead statute of limitations; to plead not guilty. Kent. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To allege or adduce in proof, support, or vendication; to offer in excuse; as, the law of nations may be pleaded in favor of the rights of ambassadors. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will neither plead my age nor sickness, in excuse of faults. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being pleaded; capable of being alleged in proof, defense, or vindication; as, a right or privilege pleadable at law. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. plaideur. ] 1. One who pleads; one who argues for or against; an advotate. [ 1913 Webster ]

So fair a pleader any cause may gain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) One who draws up or forms pleas; the draughtsman of pleas or pleadings in the widest sense; as, a special pleader. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of advocating, defending, or supporting, a cause by arguments. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a pleading manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. (Law) The mutual pleas and replies of the plaintiff and defendant, or written statements of the parties in support of their claims, proceeding from the declaration of the plaintiff, until issue is joined, and the question made to rest on some single point. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. plaisance. See Please. ] 1. Pleasure; merriment; gayety; delight; kindness. [ Archaic ] Shak. “Full great pleasance.” Chaucer. “A realm of pleasance.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A secluded part of a garden. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The pleasances of old Elizabethan houses. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. plaisant. See Please. ] 1. Pleasing; grateful to the mind or to the senses; agreeable; as, a pleasant journey; pleasant weather. [ 1913 Webster ]

Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Ps. cxxxiii. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Cheerful; enlivening; gay; sprightly; humorous; sportive; as, pleasant company; a pleasant fellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

From grave to light, from pleasant to serve. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Pleasing; gratifying; agreeable; cheerful; good-humored; enlivening; gay; lively; merry; sportive; humorous; jocose; amusing; witty. -- Pleasant, Pleasing, Agreeable. Agreeable is applied to that which agrees with, or is in harmony with, one's tastes, character, etc. Pleasant and pleasing denote a stronger degree of the agreeable. Pleasant refers rather to the state or condition; pleasing, to the act or effect. Where they are applied to the same object, pleasing is more energetic than pleasant; as, she is always pleasant and always pleasing. The distinction, however, is not radical and not rightly observed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A wit; a humorist; a buffoon. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a pleasant manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being pleasant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Pleasantries [ F. plaisanterie. See Pleasant. ] That which denotes or promotes pleasure or good humor; cheerfulness; gayety; merriment; especially, an agreeable playfulness in conversation; a jocose or humorous remark; badinage. [ 1913 Webster ]

The grave abound in pleasantries, the dull in repartees and points of wit. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

The keen observation and ironical pleasantry of a finished man of the world. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of pleasing speech. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pleased; p. pr. & vb. n. Pleasing. ] [ OE. plesen, OF. plaisir, fr. L. placere, akin to placare to reconcile. Cf. Complacent, Placable, Placid, Plea, Plead, Pleasure. ] 1. To give pleasure to; to excite agreeable sensations or emotions in; to make glad; to gratify; to content; to satisfy. [ 1913 Webster ]

I pray to God that it may plesen you. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

What next I bring shall please thee, be assured. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have or take pleasure in; hence, to choose; to wish; to desire; to will. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he. Ps. cxxxv. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

A man doing as he wills, and doing as he pleases, are the same things in common speech. J. Edwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be the will or pleasure of; to seem good to; -- used impersonally. “It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.” Col. i. 19. [ 1913 Webster ]

To-morrow, may it please you. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be pleased in or
To be pleased with, to have complacency in; to take pleasure in. --
To be pleased to do a thing, to take pleasure in doing it; to have the will to do it; to think proper to do it. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To afford or impart pleasure; to excite agreeable emotions. [ 1913 Webster ]

What pleasing scemed, for her now pleases more. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

For we that live to please, must please to live. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have pleasure; to be willing, as a matter of affording pleasure or showing favor; to vouchsafe; to consent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Heavenly stranger, please to taste
These bounties. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

That he would please 8give me my liberty. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Experiencing pleasure. -- Pleas"ed*ly adv. -- Pleas"ed*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An officious person who courts favor servilely; a pickthank. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]