The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Pleadings \Plead"ings\, n. pl. (Law)
   The mutual pleas and replies of the plaintiff and defendant,
   or written statements of the parties in support of their
   claims, proceeding from the declaration of the plaintiff,
   until issue is joined, and the question made to rest on some
   single point. --Blackstone.
   [1913 Webster]