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GeezerVison is showing www.dictionary.com — PLOT Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

Synonyms
Trivia Time
Plot comes from which language family?

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.


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 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

"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

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

    1. to locate and mark (one or more points) on a graph by means of coordinates

    2. to draw (a curve) through these points

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

"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
plot 2 British  
/ plɒt /

noun

  1. a small piece of land

    a vegetable plot

"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

verb

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

"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
plot Cultural  
  1. The organization of events in a work of fiction.


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

Vocabulary.com

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.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

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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.

See Examples For:

plot plots plotted plotting

The same day the Justice Department indicted Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, alleging he helped direct the September plot against U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026

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Mericle expects the further tightening in March may be outlined in the Fed’s dot plot — its projected rate chart — next month.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 11, 2026

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This sounds like the plot of a John le Carré novel.

From Slate ● Nov. 9, 2026

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In the videos on Instagram, 39-year-old Khawaja explained that blame for the plot should have been shared among the entire set-up, not only Smith, Warner and Bancroft.

From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2026

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“And I’d like to get to know your parents. They’ve got heaps of stories to tell, and I do love a good plot twist.”

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

However, despite nine plots of land, not a single business has moved in and there is no signs of any jobs coming.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026

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The land would be restored by replanting suitable species and "village centres, mosques, schools and graves" would be spared, he said, indicating land owners would be offered "alternative" plots further away.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

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Thursday aims to thwart such plots and save literature for the next generation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

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In the adumbrated cityscapes and sunlit garden plots, he might remix an inherited gesture, shade or style of line with hazy neighborhood memories of Bursch Elementary or Burke Park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

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In 1939, she really was listening for spies—and Uncle Sam was counting on her to uncover their plots.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

So the company plotted an ambitious pivot: It would rip up the rulebook and switch to selling fewer cars at a much higher price.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

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The apartment served as a base camp after he released his memoir, “I Was Wrong,” and plotted a national book tour.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

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Ms. Lincoln has crafted an ambitious and intricately plotted caper that will have readers riveted until its final, and supremely satisfying, sleight of hand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

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Robin Brooks, a former Goldman Sachs currency strategist and current fellow at the Brookings Institution, plotted the weighted average of U.S. data surprises versus the 10-year U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

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I only plotted the escape from the fire above.

From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

The US embassy did not give details on who was plotting the attack.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

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TeamLab, the Japan-born, tech-heavy immersive art collective, is plotting its first permanent U.S. exhibition in Anaheim.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

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Police interrogated him, raided his home and office before accusing him of plotting against the constitutional order.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

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Here in Zurich, there is no indication that he is plotting a bid.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

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Thinking of the many hours I spent coasting around Levittown, talking with my friends and plotting our futures, I said they should hang on to their bicycles—or if they didn’t already have one, buy one.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

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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.

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