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plot

American  

[plot] / plɒt /

noun

plots plural

1. a secret plan or scheme to accomplish some purpose, especially a hostile, unlawful, or evil purpose.

   a plot to overthrow the government.

   Synonyms:

   cabal, intrigue

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.

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verb (used with object)

plots, present (3rd person singular) plotted, past participle, past plotting present participle

1. to plan secretly, especially something hostile or evil.

   to plot mutiny.

   Synonyms:

   frame, hatch, brew

2. to mark on a plan, map, or chart, as the course of a ship or aircraft.

3. to draw a plan or map of, as a tract of land or a building.

4. to divide (land) into plots.

5. to determine and mark (points), as on plotting paper, by means of measurements or coordinates.

6. to draw (a curve) by means of points so marked.

7. to represent by means of such a curve.

8. to devise or construct the plot of (a play, novel, etc.).

9. 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.

10. to make (a calculation) by graph.

verb (used without object)

plots, present (3rd person singular) plotted, past participle, past plotting present participle

1. to plan or scheme secretly; form a plot; conspire.

2. to devise or develop a literary or dramatic plot.

3. to be marked or located by means of measurements or coordinates, as on plotting paper.

plot ¹ British  

/ plɒt /

noun

1. a small piece of land

   a vegetable plot

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verb

1. (tr) to arrange or divide (land) into plots

plot ² British  

/ plɒt /

noun

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. a diagram or plan, esp a surveyor's map

5. informal to lose one's ability or judgment in a given situation

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verb

1. to plan secretly (something illegal, revolutionary, etc); conspire

2. (tr) to mark (a course, as of a ship or aircraft) on a map

3. (tr) to make a plan or map of

4. 1. to locate and mark (one or more points) on a graph by means of coordinates

   2. to draw (a curve) through these points

5. (tr) to construct the plot of (a literary work)

plot Cultural  

1. The organization of events in a work of fiction.

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Synonym Usage

See conspiracy. 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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• plotlessness
  noun
• overplot
  verb
• outplot
  verb (used with object)
• preplot
  verb (used with object)
• replot
  verb (used with object)
• plotful
  adjective
• plotless
  adjective
• unplotted
  adjective
• unplotting
  adjective
• well-plotted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• plots
  plural

Participles

• plotting
  present
• plotted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• plot
  simple
• plots
  simple
• have plotted
  perfect
• has plotted
  perfect
• am plotting
  progressive
• are plotting
  progressive
• is plotting
  progressive
• have been plotting
  perfect progressive
• has been plotting
  perfect progressive

Past

• plotted
  simple
• had plotted
  perfect
• was plotting
  progressive
• were plotting
  progressive
• had been plotting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will plot
  simple
• will have plotted
  perfect
• will be plotting
  progressive
• will have been plotting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of plot

First recorded before 1100; the noun has multiple origins: in the sense “piece of ground,” Middle English: “small area, patch, stain, piece of ground,” Old English: “piece of ground” (origin obscure); in the senses “ground plan, outline, map, scheme,” variant (since the 16th century) of plat ¹, itself partly a variant of Middle English, Old English plot; in the sense “secret plan” (from the 16th century), by association with complot; the verb is derivative of the noun

Explanation

A plot is a scheme, a story, a map charting progress, or a piece of land (as for a garden). To plot is to devise a secret plan, order the events of the story, or track your movement on the map. You could make a whole movie based on the word plot. This could be the plot (story): An evil so-and-so hatches a secret plot (scheme) to follow the explorer to a legendary plot (patch) of land with buried treasure. The explorer plots (draws) the best route to the treasure, but the evil so-and-so steals the plot (map) and gets to the treasure first. What a great story. All that's left is to plot (arrange) the sequence of events for maximum suspense.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plot plots plotted plotting

Within the cables, Giaka places Megrahi in Malta - where the bomb was said to have been planted - at a key time in the Lockerbie plot.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Her latest books somehow cut past narrative traditions and portray plot and emotion more directly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Umbu Ana allows his "ata" to earn a little money as a motorcycle taxi driver and to grow his own food on a small plot of land.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

The Wooden Horse bookends “The Odyssey,” in which time fragments and the plot circles back on itself, a signature of Nolan’s films.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Jefferson’s initial draft of the Declaration of Independence had included language that described the slave trade as the perverse plot of an evil English monarch designed to contaminate innocent colonists.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Thanks to their grazing, he believed his farm was still standing, even if he knew "the surrounding plots were reduced to ash".

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

They delivered their plots arrow-straight to make the dread sting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

In Islington, there are just 106 allotment plots available for around 17,000 households without garden access.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

They also note that many of the willow plots compared between 2001 and 2020 were not the same locations.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 14, 2026

Brightly colored houses sat prettily in their kempt plots, side by side.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

This month, “Cool Machine,” a riff on 1980s New York in the form of a tightly plotted crime novel, arrives from Colson Whitehead.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

Some establishments had plotted England's potential progress through the tournament and have already applied for and received an event notice.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

The long-term performance of low-volatility stocks is plotted in the chart above.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026

This correlation between crash probability and trailing two-year return is plotted in the chart above.

From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026

They were twisting and turning and pointing their beaks toward the sun as they took their readings and plotted their courses south.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

Californian icon Hot Dog on a Stick is plotting a comeback with a new owner, new outlets and new meats on sticks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

It was nominated for Best Picture, proving the director could still rake in big bucks without the help of Batman IP and with the intricate plotting of his earliest works.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Jake, a keen footballer who spent time in the US playing the sport, said he noticed the potential clash shortly after the fixtures were released and he was plotting England's route to the final.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

It’s almost as confusing as some of the plotting in the show.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Were they plotting something out there in the quarter?

From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry

Related Words

• action
• design
• movement
• narrative
• scenario
• scene
• scheme
• story
• structure
• theme