Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1728, 1811, 1885
[0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
PLEAD, v. Pa.t. pled, pleaded (Sc. 1727 R. Wodrow Corresp. (1843) III. 299, 1782 J. Sinclair Ob. Sc. Dial. 69, 1814 Scott Lord of Isles iv. xiv.; Gsw. 1898 D. Willox Poems 185; Slk. 1964 Southern Reporter (7 May) 1; Dmf. 1966 Dmf. Standard (2 Feb.) 1; Gen.Sc.). Sc. usage, tr. or absol. To argue, debate in a court of law. Obs. in Eng. in 16th c.Sc. 1728 R. Wodrow Analecta (M.C.) IV. 11:
The Act of Parliament, which seems to prohibite presentations to settled Ministers, and that of the acceptation, . . . wer at full lenth pled for five or six hours.Sc. 1811 T. Chalmers Life (1850) I. 231:
Had been apprized . . . that my augmentation was to be pled on the 18th.Lth. 1885 J. Strathesk More Bits 227:
Pleadin' at the law is like fechtin' through a whin-bus', the harder the blows, the sairer the scarts.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Plead v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/plead>
