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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

Here they plot the rise in the 30-year yield versus the S&P 500 and the energy component of the Bloomberg commodity index, on an impressive triple Y-axis.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

Austrian company TRA LEO GmbH & Co KG, which bought the plot, told AFP it had offered to support the creation of a memorial on the site.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

The military requested the seizure of the beach plot near Muskö base in Stockholm archipelago, citing "the threat from Russian drones and the ownership situation of the property".

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

That plot twist gives Chase the opportunity to send Gemma into the Further, dreaming up all sorts of frighteningly surreal environments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

I was getting exhausted from watching and waiting and planning, and she wasn’t revealing a single sign of a plot for my punishment.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

The chart below plots this mean-reverting tendency of earnings growth rates.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026

“Yikes. If only he had seen our plots first, maybe he wouldn’t have done that,” one agency official wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

This is especially true if you overlook the sillier production numbers and hacky plots and focus on the stars’ scenes together.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

They recorded every plant species identified across the meadow and tracked changes within permanent survey plots.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026

Although she was not particularly religious, the mother liked to make her plots providential.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Wu missed several station visits after he was too late at a transfer, but getting to see his partner successfully complete the route he plotted felt like a triumph nonetheless.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Of the nine indicators plotted in the above chart, the one with the best statistical track record is the average U.S. household’s equity allocation.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

In one hack that an OpenAI researcher called “a glimpse into the near future,” a team of agents banded together and plotted their attack for weeks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

Tournaments once so defined now blur into adulthood ambivalence, postcards plotted along the timeline of your life, the details growing grainy.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

So he sent word to Eadgils in exile, and helped him with men and equipment, and plotted a campaign for him.

From "Beowulf: A New Telling" by Robert Nye

Back then, the Mayor of Manchester was still plotting his route to Westminister when he addressed the Alliance Party conference in March.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

But Waldron was already plotting where a new bathroom would go.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

He and Chavez, his prime minister at the time, faced charges of plotting a coup over the bid to dissolve Congress.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

He had gone from a "loving partner" to a man who believed that she was "plotting" to take over his successful consulting business.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Mrs. Laroux ruffled her perfect hair as if she were thinking, and angry, and plotting.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

Related Words

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