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noun
1.
a secret plan or scheme to accomplish some purpose, especially 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, especially 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.
00:10
Plot
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about. |
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
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:
before 1100; (noun) of multiple orig.: in sense “piece of ground,” Middle English: small area, patch, stain, piece of ground, Old English: piece of ground (origin obscure); in senses “ground plan, outline, map, scheme,” variant (since the 16th century) of plat1, itself partly a variant of Middle English, Old English plot; sense “secret plan” (from 16th century) by association with complot, in pejorative sense; (v.) derivative of the noun
before 1100; (noun) of multiple orig.: in sense “piece of ground,” Middle English: small area, patch, stain, piece of ground, Old English: piece of ground (origin obscure); in senses “ground plan, outline, map, scheme,” variant (since the 16th century) of plat1, itself partly a variant of Middle English, Old English plot; sense “secret plan” (from 16th century) by association with complot, in pejorative sense; (v.) derivative of the noun
Related forms
plot·ful, adjective
plot·less, adjective
plot·less·ness, noun
out·plot, verb (used with object), out·plot·ted, out·plot·ting.
o·ver·plot, verb, o·ver·plot·ted, o·ver·plot·ting.
pre·plot, verb (used with object), pre·plot·ted, pre·plot·ting.
re·plot, verb (used with object), re·plot·ted, re·plot·ting.
un·plot·ted, adjective
un·plot·ting, adjective
well-plot·ted, adjective
Synonyms
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.
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. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To plot
Collins
World English Dictionary
plot1 (plɒt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a secret plan to achieve some purpose, esp one that is illegal or underhand: a plot to overthrow the government |
| 2. | the story or plan of a play, novel, etc |
| 3. | military a graphic representation of an individual or tactical setting that pinpoints an artillery target |
| 4. | chiefly (US) a diagram or plan, esp a surveyor's map |
| 5. | informal lose the plot to lose one's ability or judgment in a given situation |
| —vb , plots, plotting, plotted | |
| 6. | to plan secretly (something illegal, revolutionary, etc); conspire |
| 7. | (tr) to mark (a course, as of a ship or aircraft) on a map |
| 8. | (tr) to make a plan or map of |
| 9. | a. to locate and mark (one or more points) on a graph by means of coordinates |
| b. to draw (a curve) through these points | |
| 10. | (tr) to construct the plot of (a literary work) |
| [C16: from | |
| plot2 (plɒt) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a small piece of land: a vegetable plot |
| —vb , plots, plotting, plotted | |
| 2. | (tr) to arrange or divide (land) into plots |
| [Old English: piece of land, plan of an area] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
plot
in fiction, the structure of interrelated actions, consciously selected and arranged by the author. Plot involves a considerably higher level of narrative organization than normally occurs in a story or fable. According to E.M. Forster in Aspects of the Novel (1927), a story is a "narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence," whereas a plot organizes the events according to a "sense of causality."
Learn more about plot with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
And lastly, the plot of the story doesn't make sense.
For example, they may be given a scatter plot with data points and asked questions about how a line falls within it.
The real engine of the show isn't the machinations of its characters or its unfolding plot but its basic structure.
We are not alone in our ability to invent or plan or to contemplate ourselves-or even to plot and lie.
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