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Plotting

 - 4 dictionary results

plot

[plot] noun, verb, plot⋅ted, plot⋅ting.
–noun
1. a secret plan or scheme to accomplish some purpose, esp. a hostile, unlawful, or evil purpose: a plot to overthrow the government.
2. Also called storyline. the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story.
3. a small piece or area of ground: a garden plot; burial plot.
4. a measured piece or parcel of land: a house on a two-acre plot.
5. a plan, map, diagram, or other graphic representation, as of land, a building, etc.
6. a list, timetable, or scheme dealing with any of the various arrangements for the production of a play, motion picture, etc.: According to the property plot, there should be a lamp stage left.
7. a chart showing the course of a craft, as a ship or airplane.
8. Artillery. a point or points located on a map or chart: target plot.
–verb (used with object)
9. to plan secretly, esp. something hostile or evil: to plot mutiny.
10. to mark on a plan, map, or chart, as the course of a ship or aircraft.
11. to draw a plan or map of, as a tract of land or a building.
12. to divide (land) into plots.
13. to determine and mark (points), as on plotting paper, by means of measurements or coordinates.
14. to draw (a curve) by means of points so marked.
15. to represent by means of such a curve.
16. to devise or construct the plot of (a play, novel, etc.).
17. to prepare a list, timetable, or scheme of (production arrangements), as for a play or motion picture: The stage manager hadn't plotted the set changes until one day before the dress rehearsal.
18. to make (a calculation) by graph.
–verb (used without object)
19. to plan or scheme secretly; form a plot; conspire.
20. to devise or develop a literary or dramatic plot.
21. to be marked or located by means of measurements or coordinates, as on plotting paper.

Origin:
bef. 1100; (n.) of multiple orig.: in sense “piece of ground,” ME: small area, patch, stain, piece of ground, OE: piece of ground (orig. obscure); in senses “ground plan, outline, map, scheme,” var. (since the 16th century) of plat 1 , itself partly a var. of ME, OE plot; sense “secret plan” (from 16th century) by assoc. with complot, in pejorative sense; (v.) deriv. of the n.


plotful, adjective
plotless, adjective
plot⋅less⋅ness, noun


1. intrigue, cabal. See conspiracy. 9. brew, hatch, frame. 19. Plot, conspire, scheme imply secret, cunning, and often unscrupulous planning to gain one's own ends. To plot is to contrive a secret plan of a selfish and often treasonable kind: to plot against someone's life. To conspire is to unite with others in an illicit or illegal machination: to conspire to seize a government. To scheme is to plan ingeniously, subtly, and often craftily for one's own advantage: to scheme how to gain power.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Plotting
plot   (plŏt)   
n.  
    1. A small piece of ground, generally used for a specific purpose: a garden plot.

    2. A measured area of land; a lot.

  1. A ground plan, as for a building; a diagram.

  2. See graph1.

  3. The pattern of events or main story in a narrative or drama.

  4. A secret plan to accomplish a hostile or illegal purpose; a scheme.

v.   plot·ted, plot·ting, plots

v.   tr.
  1. To represent graphically, as on a chart: plot a ship's course.

  2. Mathematics

    1. To locate (points or other figures) on a graph by means of coordinates.

    2. To draw (a curve) connecting points on a graph.

  3. To conceive and arrange the action and incidents of: "I began plotting novels at about the time I learned to read" (James Baldwin).

  4. To form a plot for; prearrange secretly or deviously: plot an assassination.

v.   intr.
  1. To be located by means of coordinates, as on a chart or with data.

  2. To form or take part in a plot; scheme.


[Middle English, from Old English.]
plot'less adj., plot'less·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

plot

The organization of events in a work of fiction.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

plot 
O.E. plot "small piece of ground," of unknown origin. Sense of "ground plan," and thus "map, chart" is 1551; that of "plan, scheme" is 1587, probably by accidental similarity to complot, from O.Fr. complot "combined plan," of unknown origin, perhaps a back-formation from compeloter "to roll into a ball." Meaning "set of events in a story" is from 1649. The verb is first attested 1589 in the sense of "to lay plans for" (usually with evil intent); 1590 in the lit. sense of "to make a map or diagram."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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