資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Plea \Plea\, 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.

   2. (Law) A cause in court; a lawsuit; as, the Court of Common
      Pleas. See under {Common}.

            The Supreme Judicial Court shall have cognizance of
            pleas real, personal, and mixed.      --Laws of
                                                  Massachusetts.

   3. That which is alleged or pleaded, in defense or in
      justification; an excuse; an apology. ``Necessity, the
      tyrant's plea.'' --Milton.

            No plea must serve; 't is cruelty to spare.
                                                  --Denham.

   4. An urgent prayer or entreaty.

   {Pleas of the crown} (Eng. Law), criminal actions.



   6. Highest state; acme; consummation; perfection.

            Mutual love, the crown of all our bliss. --Milton.

   7. The topmost part of anything; the summit.

            The steepy crown of the bare mountains. --Dryden.

   8. The topmost part of the head (see Illust. of {Bird}.);
      that part of the head from which the hair descends toward
      the sides and back; also, the head or brain.

            From toe to crown he'll fill our skin with pinches.
                                                  --Shak.

            Twenty things which I set down: This done, I twenty
            more-had in my crown.                 --Bunyan.

   9. The part of a hat above the brim.

   10. (Anat.) The part of a tooth which projects above the gum;
       also, the top or grinding surface of a tooth.

   11. (Arch.) The vertex or top of an arch; -- applied
       generally to about one third of the curve, but in a
       pointed arch to the apex only.

   12. (Bot.) Same as {Corona}.

   13. (Naut.)
       (a) That part of an anchor where the arms are joined to
           the shank.
       (b) The rounding, or rounded part, of the deck from a
           level line.
       (c) pl. The bights formed by the several turns of a
           cable. --Totten.

   14. The upper range of facets in a rose diamond.

   15. The dome of a furnace.

   16. (Geom.) The area inclosed between two concentric
       perimeters.

   17. (Eccl.) A round spot shaved clean on the top of the head,
       as a mark of the clerical state; the tonsure.

   18. A size of writing paper. See under {Paper}.

   19. A coin stamped with the image of a crown; hence,a
       denomination of money; as, the English crown, a silver
       coin of the value of five shillings sterling, or a little
       more than $1.20; the Danish or Norwegian crown, a money
       of account, etc., worth nearly twenty-seven cents.

   20. An ornaments or decoration representing a crown; as, the
       paper is stamped with a crown.

   {Crown of aberration} (Astron.), a spurious circle around the
      true circle of the sun.

   {Crown antler} (Zo["o]l.), the topmost branch or tine of an
      antler; also, an antler having a cuplike top, with tines
      springing from the rim.

   {Crown bar}, one of the bars which support the crown sheet of
      steam-boiler furnace.

   {Crown glass}. See under {Glass}.

   {Crown imperial}. (Bot.) See in the Vocabulary.

   {Crown jewels}, the jewels appertaining to the sovereign
      while wearing the crown. [Eng.] ``She pawned and set to
      sale the crown jewels.'' --Milton.

   {Crown land}, land belonging to the crown, that is, to the
      sovereign.

   {Crown law}, the law which governs criminal prosecutions.
      [Eng.]

   {Crown lawyer}, one employed by the crown, as in criminal
      cases. [Eng.]

   {Crown octavo}. See under {Paper}.

   {Crown office}. See in the Vocabulary.

   {Crown paper}. See under {Paper}.

   {Crown piece}. See in the Vocabulary.

   {Crown Prince}, the heir apparent to a crown or throne.

   {Crown saw}. See in the Vocabulary.

   {Crown scab} (Far.), a cancerous sore formed round the
      corners of a horse's hoof.

   {Crown sheet}, the flat plate which forms the top of the
      furnace or fire box of an internally fired steam boiler.
      

   {Crown shell}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Acorn-shell}.

   {Crown side}. See {Crown office}.

   {Crown tax} (Eccl. Hist.), a golden crown, or its value,
      which was required annually from the Jews by the king of
      Syria, in the time of the Maccabees. --1 Macc. x. 20.

   {Crown wheel}. See in the Vocabulary.

   {Crown work}. See in the Vocabulary.

   {Pleas of the crown} (Engl. law), criminal actions.