master plan
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to construct a master plan for.
to master-plan one's career.
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to develop or improve (land, a community, a building complex, or the like) through a long-range plan that balances and harmonizes all elements.
The engineers master-planned the island to provide for increases in the tourist population.
noun
Etymology
Origin of master plan
First recorded in 1925–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While the pacing stumbles a little in the first half, it picks up satisfyingly on alternate Earth with John Ward’s as-yet-unknown master plan.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
A 2020 master plan proposed building a $14.4 billion deck above the trains to anchor 12,000 apartments, along with office, industrial and retail space.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
His son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has no official title but is one of Trump's envoys for the Gaza ceasefire, said his "master plan" aimed for "catastrophic success".
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
One, published in the master plan, shows a pastoral valley embraced by ridges on the east and west.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2025
Skipping grades in school was part of Dad’s master plan.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
