Plead
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia · John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
TO.
To answer the indictment or, in a civil action, the declaration of the plaintiff, in a formal manner. To enter the defendant’s defence upon record. In a popular use, to make a forensic argument. The word is not so used by the legal profession. Steph. PI. App. n.
I; Story, Eq. PI. § 4, n.