plead the Fifth
idiomatic phrase
variants
or less commonly plead the Fifth Amendment
or plead the fifth
chiefly US
: to refuse to testify against oneself in a court of law in accordance with the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution : take the Fifth
… appeared … for a deposition, but pled the Fifth dozens of times.—
Deepa Shivaram
Deepa Shivaram… wanted to plead the Fifth Amendment because he feared he'd incriminate himself.—Noah Goldberg
—often used figurativelyNoah GoldbergWhen asked if he felt appreciated by the Patriots, [Tom] Brady famously pleaded the fifth.—Ben Volin
Ben VolinExamples of plead the Fifth in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But his lawyers might well advise him to plead the Fifth Amendment and decline to testify.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 3 Oct. 2023
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Joel Khalili, WIRED, 3 Oct. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Plead the Fifth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plead%20the%20Fifth. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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