Crossword Genius

Plea from French criminal (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

defence

'plea' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'from french criminal' is the wordplay.
'from french' becomes 'de' (French for 'from').
'criminal' becomes 'fence' (I've seen this before).
'de'+'fence'='DEFENCE'

(Other definitions for defence that I've seen before include "Purpose of armed forces" , "Protection; justification" , "Armed forces' role" , "A means of protecting from attack" , "Resistance to attack" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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