Adjacent Words

Plot definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PLOT, n. [a different orthography of plat.]
1. A plat or small extent of ground; as a garden plot.
It was a chosen plot of fertile land.
When we mean to build,
We first survey the plot.
2. A plantation laid out.
3. A plan or scheme. [Qu. the next word.]
4. In surveying, a plan or draught of a field, farm or manor surveyed and delineated on paper.
PLOT, v.t. To make a plan of; to delineate.
PLOT, n.
1. Any scheme, stratagem or plan of a complicated nature, or consisting of many parts, adapted to the accomplishment of some purpose, usually a mischievous one. A plot may be formed by a single person or by numbers. In the latter case, it is a conspiracy or an intrigue. The latter word more generally denotes a scheme directed against individuals; the former against the government. But this distinction is not always observed.
O think what anxious moments pass between
The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods!
2. In dramatic writings, the knot or intrigue; the story of a play, comprising a complication of incidents which are at last unfolded by unexpected means.
If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, the winding up of the plot must be a probable consequence of all that went before.
3. Contrivance; deep reach of thought; ability to plot.
A man of much plot.
PLOT, v.i. To form a scheme of mischief against another, or against a government or those who administer it. A traitor plots against his king.
The wicked plotteth against the just. Psalms 37.
1. To contrive a plan; to scheme.
The prince did plot to be secretly gone.
PLOT, v.t. To plan; to devise; to contrive; as, to plot an unprofitable crime.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal); "they concocted a plot to discredit the governor"; "I saw through his little game from the start" [syn: plot, secret plan, game]
2: a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation; "a bean plot"; "a cabbage patch"; "a briar patch" [syn: plot, plot of land, plot of ground, patch]
3: the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.; "the characters were well drawn but the plot was banal"
4: a chart or map showing the movements or progress of an object v
1: plan secretly, usually something illegal; "They plotted the overthrow of the government"
2: make a schematic or technical drawing of that shows interactions among variables or how something is constructed [syn: diagram, plot]
3: make a plat of; "Plat the town" [syn: plat, plot]
4: devise the sequence of events in (a literary work or a play, movie, or ballet); "the writer is plotting a new novel"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English Date: before 12th century 1. a. a small area of planted ground <a vegetable plot> b. a small piece of land in a cemetery c. a measured piece of land ; lot 2. ground plan, plat 3. the plan or main story (as of a movie or literary work) 4. [perhaps back-formation from complot] a secret plan for accomplishing a usually evil or unlawful end ; intrigue 5. a graphic representation (as a chart) • plotless adjective • plotlessness noun Synonyms: plot, intrigue, machination, conspiracy, cabal mean a plan secretly devised to accomplish an evil or treacherous end. plot implies careful foresight in planning a complex scheme <an assassination plot>. intrigue suggests secret underhanded maneuvering in an atmosphere of duplicity <backstairs intrigue>. machination implies a contriving of annoyances, injuries, or evils by indirect means <the machinations of a party boss>. conspiracy implies a secret agreement among several people usually involving treason or great treachery <a conspiracy to fix prices>. cabal typically applies to political intrigue involving persons of some eminence <a cabal among powerful senators>. Synonym: see in addition plan. II. verb (plotted; plotting) Date: 1588 transitive verb 1. a. to make a plot, map, or plan of b. to mark or note on or as if on a map or chart 2. to lay out in plots 3. a. to locate (a point) by means of coordinates b. to locate (a curve) by plotted points c. to represent (an equation) by means of a curve so constructed 4. to plan or contrive especially secretly 5. to invent or devise the plot of (as a movie or a literary work) intransitive verb 1. to form a plot ; scheme 2. to be located by means of coordinates <the data plot at a single point>

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) 1. Map, chart, or graph representing data of any sort. 2. Representation on a diagram or chart of the position or course of a target in terms of angles and distances from positions; location of a position on a map or a chart. 3. The visual display of a single location of an airborne object at a particular instant of time. 4. A portion of a map or overlay on which are drawn the outlines of the areas covered by one or more photographs. See also master plot.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a defined and usu. small piece of ground. 2 the interrelationship of the main events in a play, novel, film, etc. 3 a conspiracy or secret plan, esp. to achieve an unlawful end. 4 esp. US a graph or diagram. 5 a graph showing the relation between two variables. --v. (plotted, plotting) tr. 1 make a plan or map of (an existing object, a place or thing to be laid out, constructed, etc.). 2 (also absol.) plan or contrive secretly (a crime, conspiracy, etc.). 3 mark (a point or course etc.) on a chart or diagram. 4 a mark out or allocate (points) on a graph. b make (a curve etc.) by marking out a number of points. Derivatives: plotless adj. plotlessness n. plotter n. Etymology: OE and f. OF complot secret plan: both of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plot Plot, n. [AS. plot; cf. Goth. plats a patch. Cf. Plat a piece of ground.] 1. A small extent of ground; a plat; as, a garden plot. --Shak. 2. A plantation laid out. [Obs.] --Sir P. Sidney. 3. (Surv.) A plan or draught of a field, farm, estate, etc., drawn to a scale.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plot Plot, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plotted; p. pr. & vb. n. Plotting.] To make a plot, map, pr plan, of; to mark the position of on a plan; to delineate. This treatise plotteth down Cornwall as it now standeth. --Carew.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plot Plot, n. [Abbrev. from complot.] 1. Any scheme, stratagem, secret design, or plan, of a complicated nature, adapted to the accomplishment of some purpose, usually a treacherous and mischievous one; a conspiracy; an intrigue; as, the Rye-house Plot. I have overheard a plot of death. --Shak. O, think what anxious moments pass between The birth of plots and their last fatal periods! --Addison. 2. A share in such a plot or scheme; a participation in any stratagem or conspiracy. [Obs.] And when Christ saith, Who marries the divorced commits adultery, it is to be understood, if he had any plot in the divorce. --Milton. 3. Contrivance; deep reach of thought; ability to plot or intrigue. [Obs.] ``A man of much plot.'' --Denham. 4. A plan; a purpose. ``No other plot in their religion but serve God and save their souls.'' --Jer. Taylor. 5. In fiction, the story of a play, novel, romance, or poem, comprising a complication of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means. If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, then the winding up of the plot must be a probable consequence of all that went before. --Pope. Syn: Intrigue; stratagem; conspiracy; cabal; combination; contrivance.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plot Plot, v. t. To plan; to scheme; to devise; to contrive secretly. ``Plotting an unprofitable crime.'' --Dryden. ``Plotting now the fall of others.'' --Milton

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plot Plot (pl[o^]t), v. i. 1. To form a scheme of mischief against another, especially against a government or those who administer it; to conspire. --Shak. The wicked plotteth against the just. --Ps. xxxvii. 12. 2. To contrive a plan or stratagem; to scheme. The prince did plot to be secretly gone. --Sir H. Wotton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(plots, plotting, plotted) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A plot is a secret plan by a group of people to do something that is illegal or wrong, usually against a person or a government. Security forces have uncovered a plot to overthrow the government... He was responding to reports of an assassination plot against him. N-COUNT: usu N to-inf, N against n 2. If people plot to do something or plot something that is illegal or wrong, they plan secretly to do it. Prosecutors in the trial allege the defendants plotted to overthrow the government... The military were plotting a coup... They are awaiting trial on charges of plotting against the state. VERB: V to-inf, V n, V against n 3. When people plot a strategy or a course of action, they carefully plan each step of it. Yesterday's meeting was intended to plot a survival strategy for the party... VERB: V n 4. The plot of a film, novel, or play is the connected series of events which make up the story. N-VAR see also sub-plot 5. A plot of land is a small piece of land, especially one that has been measured or marked out for a special purpose, such as building houses or growing vegetables. The bottom of the garden was given over to vegetable plots. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n 6. When someone plots something on a graph, they mark certain points on it and then join the points up. We plot about eight points on the graph. VERB: V n 7. When someone plots the position or course of a plane or ship, they mark it on a map using instruments to obtain accurate information. We were trying to plot the course of the submarine. VERB: V n 8. If someone plots the progress or development of something, they make a diagram or a plan which shows how it has developed in order to give some indication of how it will develop in the future. They used a computer to plot the movements of everyone in the building. VERB: V n 9. If someone loses the plot, they become confused and do not know what they should do. (INFORMAL) The Tories have lost the plot on law and order. PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Plat, piece of ground. 2. Plan (of a piece of land), draught, sketch, outline. 3. Scheme (especially for a bad purpose), stratagem, conspiracy, intrigue, cabal, machination, plan, project, combination. 4. Story, intrigue. 5. Contrivance, reach of thought, ability to plot. II. v. n. 1. Plan (for some mischief), conspire. 2. Scheme, contrive, lay a plan, form a plot. III. v. a. Plan (as something mischievous), concoct, contrive, project, devise, frame, brew, hatch, compass.

Moby Thesaurus

acreage, acres, action, allotment, anagnorisis, angle, anticipate, approach, architectonics, architecture, area, argument, arrange, art, artful dodge, artifice, atmosphere, await, background, be destined, be fated, be imminent, be to be, be to come, blind, block, blueprint, brew, brouillon, cabal, calculate, cartoon, catastrophe, characterization, chart, chattels real, chicanery, clearing, clos, close, cogitate, collogue, collude, collusion, color, come, come on, complication, complicity, complot, compute, conceive, concoct, confederacy, connivance, connive, conniving, conspiracy, conspire, continuity, contraption, contrivance, contrive, contriving, cook up, copy, corn field, countermine, counterplot, coup, covin, craft, croft, cultivated land, cute trick, deceit, deep-laid plot, delineation, demesne, denouement, depict, design, determine, development, device, devise, diagram, dodge, domain, draft, draw, draw near, draw on, drawing, dream up, ebauche, elevation, enclave, engineer, engineering, episode, esquisse, expect, expedient, fable, fakement, falling action, feint, fetch, field, figure, finagle, finagling, find, finesse, fix, foresee, foretell, forethink, forty, frame, frame up, frame-up, gambit, game, gerrymander, gimmick, graph, grift, ground plan, grounds, hatch, hatch a plot, hatch up, hayfield, honor, hope, house plan, ichnography, incident, intrigue, jockey, jugglery, knavery, kraal, land, landed property, lands, lay, lay a plot, lay down, lay off, lay out, lie ahead, line, little game, local color, look for, look forward to, loom, lot, lots, machinate, machination, maneuver, maneuvering, manipulate, manipulation, manor, map, map out, mark off, mark out, messuage, mood, motif, move, movement, mythos, near, operate, organize, outline, pack, pack the deal, paddy, pale, parcel, parcel of land, patch, pattern, peripeteia, piece of land, plan, plat, play games, plot of ground, plot out, plotting, ploy, practice, praedium, prearrange, preconcert, preconsider, precontrive, predesign, predetermine, predict, premeditate, preorder, preresolve, profile, project, projection, property, prophesy, pull strings, quad, quadrangle, quadrat, racket, real estate, real property, realty, recognition, red herring, rice paddy, rig, rigging, rising action, rough, ruse, scenario, scheme, schemery, scheming, secondary plot, section, set out, set up, sew up, shift, show, skeleton, sketch, sketch out, slant, sleight, square, stack the cards, story, stratagem, strategy, structure, subject, subplot, subterfuge, switch, table, tactic, tenements, thematic development, theme, thread, threaten, toft, tone, topic, tract, trick, trickery, twist, underplot, wangle, web of intrigue, wheat field, wile, wily device, wire-pulling, work out beforehand, working drawing