Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

plead the belly

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.50 in modern English

Syllables: plead- the -bel-ly
IPA

24

Scrabble Score

13

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To attempt to use one's claimed pregnancy to avoid execution.

Example Sentences

"She isn't hanged, while in jail, because she pleads the belly."
"Over 25 per cent of the 463 women who were sentenced to death at the Old Bailey pleaded the belly between 1674 and 1699, and 38 per cent from 1700 to 1724, though a much smaller proportion did so later."
"I was telling them only the other day about pregnant women avoiding the Drop in the eighteenth century by pleading the belly."

Inflected Forms

pleads the belly (present, singular) pleading the belly (participle, present) pleaded the belly (participle, past) pleaded the belly (past)

Questions

What does plead the belly mean?: To attempt to use one's claimed pregnancy to avoid execution.

How to pronounce plead the belly

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