plant

[ plant, plahnt ]

/ plænt, plɑnt /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: plant / planted / planting / plants on Thesaurus.com

noun

Botany. any member of the kingdom Plantae, comprising multicellular organisms that typically produce their own food from inorganic matter by the process of photosynthesis and that have more or less rigid cell walls containing cellulose, including vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, and hornworts: some classification schemes may include fungi, algae, bacteria, and certain single-celled eukaryotes that have plantlike qualities, as rigid cell walls or the use of photosynthesis.

an herb or other small vegetable growth, in contrast with a tree or a shrub.

a seedling or a growing slip, especially one ready for transplanting.

the equipment, including the fixtures, machinery, tools, etc., and often the buildings, necessary to carry on any industrial business: a manufacturing plant.

the complete equipment or apparatus for a particular mechanical process or operation: the heating plant for a home.

the buildings, equipment, etc., of an institution: the sprawling plant of the university.

Slang. something intended to trap, decoy, or lure, as criminals.

Slang. a scheme to trap, trick, swindle, or defraud.

a person, placed in an audience, whose rehearsed or prepared reactions, comments, etc., appear spontaneous to the rest of the audience.

a person placed secretly in a group or organization, as by a foreign government, to obtain internal or secret information, stir up discontent, etc.

Theater. a line of dialogue, or a character, action, etc., introducing an idea or theme that will be further developed at a later point in the play: Afterward we remembered the suicide plant in the second act.

verb (used with object)

to put or set in the ground for growth, as seeds, young trees, etc.

to furnish or stock (land) with plants: to plant a section with corn.

to establish or implant (ideas, principles, doctrines, etc.): to plant a love for learning in growing children.

to introduce (a breed of animals) into a country.

to deposit (young fish, or spawn) in a river, lake, etc.

to bed (oysters).

to insert or set firmly in or on the ground or some other body or surface: to plant posts along a road.

Theater. to insert or place (an idea, person, or thing) in a play.

to place; put.

to place with great force, firmness, or determination: He planted himself in the doorway as if daring us to try to enter. He planted a big kiss on his son's cheek.

to station; post: to plant a police officer on every corner.

to locate; situate: Branch stores are planted all over.

to establish (a colony, city, etc.); found.

to settle (persons), as in a colony.

to say or place (something) in order to obtain a desired result, especially one that will seem spontaneous: The police planted the story in the newspaper in order to trap the thief.

Carpentry. to nail, glue, or otherwise attach (a molding or the like) to a surface.

to place (a person) secretly in a group to function as a spy or to promote discord.

Slang. to hide or conceal, as stolen goods.

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of plant

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun plaunt(e), plant(e); in part continuing Old English plante “sapling, young plant,” from Latin planta “a shoot, sprig, scion (for planting), plant”; in part from Old French plante, from Latin planta; Middle English verb plaunten, planten; in part continuing Old English plantian, from Latin plantāre “to plant”; in part from Old French planter, from Latin plantāre

OTHER WORDS FROM plant

plant·a·ble, adjectiveplant·less, adjectiveplant·like, adjectivemis·plant, verb (used with object)

o·ver·plant, verb (used with object)pre·plant, verb (used with object)self-plant·ed, adjectivesub·plant, nounun·der·plant, verb (used with object)un·plant·a·ble, adjectiveun·plant·ed, adjectivewell-plant·ed, adjective

Words nearby plant

planosol, planospore, planovalgus, plan position indicator, plansheer, plant, planta, Plantae, Plantagenet, planta genista, plant agreement

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use plant in a sentence

Further evidence has come from two more recent outbreaks, the first at a seafood processing plant in Oregon and the second at a chicken processing plant in Arkansas.
Cloth Masks Do Protect The Wearer – Breathing In Less Coronavirus Means You Get Less Sick|LGBTQ-Editor|August 20, 2020|No Straight News
Nearly one in every three of the plants had pesticide levels known to be lethal to monarchs.
Pesticides contaminate most food of western U.S. monarchs|Rebecca E. Hirsch|August 17, 2020|Science News For Students
Wadley’s team also found bits of burned wood in the bedding containing fragments of camphor leaves, an aromatic plant that can be used as a bug repellent.
The oldest known grass beds from 200,000 years ago included insect repellents|Bruce Bower|August 13, 2020|Science News
Altogether, 9% of the nation’s meat plant workers—around 30,000 people—have contracted the virus, according to a recent analysis by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The logjam of cattle stuck on feedlots is beginning to clear|Tim McDonnell|July 13, 2020|Quartz

The biggest machine learning algorithms use closer to a nuclear power plant’s worth of electricity and racks of chips to learn.
MIT Wants to Put AI in Your Pocket With Confetti-Sized Brain Chip|Jason Dorrier|June 11, 2020|Singularity Hub
His most recommended plant was tree ivy—its juices sprayed up the nostrils.
History's Craziest Hangover Cures|Justin Jones|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There was Petr Miller, a forgeman from the Prague ČKD plant.
How Havel Inspired the Velvet Revolution|Michael Zantovsky|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His first feature film, Jellyfish Eyes, debuted last year and was set in a town near a threatening nuclear power plant.
Takashi Murakami’s Art From Disaster|Justin Jones|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Same for driveway pavers and meat and poultry plant workers.
The Liberal Case Against Illegal Immigration|Doug McIntyre|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Some of those songs now have names other than Page and Robert Plant in their credits.
‘No Stairway, Denied!’ Led Zeppelin Lawsuit Winds on Down the Road|Keith Phipps|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As there are still many varieties of the plant grown in America, so there doubtless was when cultivated by the Indians.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
The plant as a whole remains green until late in the autumn.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
The Smooth Naked Horsetail is a common plant, specially by the sides of streams and pools.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
The relation existing between the balmy plant and the commerce of the world is of the strongest kind.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Tobacco is a strong growing plant resisting heat and drought to a far (p. 018) greater extent than most plants.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.

British Dictionary definitions for plant (1 of 2)

plant¹

/ (plɑːnt) /

noun

any living organism that typically synthesizes its food from inorganic substances, possesses cellulose cell walls, responds slowly and often permanently to a stimulus, lacks specialized sense organs and nervous system, and has no powers of locomotion

such an organism that is green, terrestrial, and smaller than a shrub or tree; a herb

a cutting, seedling, or similar structure, esp when ready for transplantation

informal a thing positioned secretly for discovery by another, esp in order to incriminate an innocent person

billiards snooker a position in which the cue ball can be made to strike an intermediate which then pockets another ball

verb (tr)

(often foll by out) to set (seeds, crops, etc) into (ground) to grow

to place firmly in position

to establish; found

to implant in the mind

slang to deliver (a blow)

informal to position or hide, esp in order to deceive or observe

to place (young fish, oysters, spawn, etc) in (a lake, river, etc) in order to stock the water

Derived forms of plant

plantable, adjectiveplantlike, adjective

Word Origin for plant

Old English, from Latin planta a shoot, cutting

British Dictionary definitions for plant (2 of 2)

plant²

/ (plɑːnt) /

noun

the land, buildings, and equipment used in carrying on an industrial, business, or other undertaking or service
(as modifier)plant costs

a factory or workshop

mobile mechanical equipment for construction, road-making, etc

Word Origin for plant

C20: special use of plant 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for plant

plant

[ plănt ]

Any of a wide variety of multicellular eukaryotic organisms, belonging to the kingdom Plantae and including the bryophytes and vascular plants. Plant cells have cell walls made of cellulose. Except for a few specialized symbionts, plants have chlorophyll and manufacture their own food through photosynthesis. Most plants grow in a fixed location and reproduce sexually, showing an alternation of generations between a diploid stage (with each cell having two sets of chromosomes) and haploid stage (with each cell having one set of chromosomes) in their life cycle. The first fossil plants date from the Silurian period. Formerly the algae, slime molds, dinoflagellates, and fungi, among other groups, were classified as plants, but now these are considered to belong to other kingdoms. See Table at taxonomy.

plant

Origin of plant

OTHER WORDS FROM plant

Words nearby plant

Words related to plant

How to use plant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for plant (1 of 2)

Derived forms of plant

Word Origin for plant

British Dictionary definitions for plant (2 of 2)

Word Origin for plant

Scientific definitions for plant