plot

[ plot ]

/ plɒt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR plot ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a secret plan or scheme to accomplish some purpose, especially a hostile, unlawful, or evil purpose: a plot to overthrow the government.

Also called storyline. the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story.

a small piece or area of ground: a garden plot; burial plot.

a measured piece or parcel of land: a house on a two-acre plot.

a plan, map, diagram, or other graphic representation, as of land, a building, etc.

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.

a chart showing the course of a craft, as a ship or airplane.

Artillery. a point or points located on a map or chart: target plot.

verb (used with object), plot·ted, plot·ting.

to plan secretly, especially something hostile or evil: to plot mutiny.

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

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

to divide (land) into plots.

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

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

to represent by means of such a curve.

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

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.

to make (a calculation) by graph.

verb (used without object), plot·ted, plot·ting.

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

to devise or develop a literary or dramatic plot.

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

Nearby words

plonko, plook, plop, plosion, plosive, plot, plot line, plot thickens, the, plotinian, plotinism, plotinus

Origin of plot

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

SYNONYMS FOR plot

1 intrigue, cabal.

9 brew, hatch, frame.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR plot ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

plot·ful, adjectiveplot·less, adjectiveplot·less·ness, nounout·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, adjectiveun·plot·ting, adjectivewell-plot·ted, adjective

Synonym study

1. See conspiracy. 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 Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for plotting

A common view in Russia is that the West was involved in plotting the revolution in Ukraine.
Think Putin’s Bad? Wait for the Next Guy|Anna Nemtsova|November 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
U.S. intelligence agencies accuse the Khorasan veterans of plotting attacks against commercial airliners in the West.
ISIS and Al Qaeda Ready to Gang Up on Obama's Rebels|Jamie Dettmer|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He is as conversant with HTML and Git as with metaphor and the twists and turns of plotting.
Vikram Chandra Is A Novelist Who's Obsessed With Writing Computer Code|Jane Ciabattari|August 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Now ISIS controls one third of a state in the Mideast, and is plotting attacks against America.
Blame The Obama Doctrine For Iraq|Stuart Gottlieb|June 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Some people (or at least this guy) are plotting a move to Canada.
Most Creative ‘Net Neutrality’ Comments on the FCC Website|Abby Haglage|June 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Wamsutta was taken to Plymouth immediately, and charged with plotting with the Narragansetts against the English.
Four American Indians|Edson L. Whitney
Plotting against the Emperor, he was imprisoned from 1808 to 1812.
The Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Complete|Constant
Yes, and I have reason to believe that there is plotting and conniving between the Empress and the accursed Christian sect.
Valeria|William Henry Withrow
The relationship is readily seen on plotting one against the other and tracing the curves.
The Preparation of Plantation Rubber|Sidney Morgan
His own countrymen, on his own ships in the long delays on the voyage to unknown seas, were plotting against him.
The Story of Magellan and The Discovery of the Philippines|Hezekiah Butterworth

British Dictionary definitions for plotting (1 of 2)

plot

/ (plɒt) /

noun

a secret plan to achieve some purpose, esp one that is illegal or underhanda plot to overthrow the government

the story or plan of a play, novel, etc

military a graphic representation of an individual or tactical setting that pinpoints an artillery target

mainly US a diagram or plan, esp a surveyor's map

lose the plot informal to lose one's ability or judgment in a given situation

verb plots, plotting or plotted

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

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

(tr) to make a plan or map of

to locate and mark (one or more points) on a graph by means of coordinates
to draw (a curve) through these points

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

Word Origin for plot

C16: from plot ², influenced in use by complot

British Dictionary definitions for plotting (2 of 2)

plot

/ (plɒt) /

noun

a small piece of landa vegetable plot

verb plots, plotting or plotted

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

Word Origin for plot

Old English: piece of land, plan of an area

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

Culture definitions for plotting

plot

The organization of events in a work of fiction.