to construct a master plan for.
to master-plan one's career.
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.
First recorded in 1925–30
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Among the agreements signed on Wednesday was a framework for a Vietnam-South Korea "master plan on cooperation in science, technology and innovation".
From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026
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
The capital is awe-inspiring thanks to Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s 1791 master plan, perfected by the 1901-02 McMillan Plan creating the National Mall and monumental core as we know them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026
Carney’s master plan for breaking U.S. dependency—extracting more natural resources and diversifying their export—will take years at best, and he may not be making the best start.
From Barron's • Nov. 25, 2025
Sing Sing’s maze of corridors, gates, and staircases had grown organically over the years according to the demands of the partic-ular era; no master plan had guided the development.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
