Library / English Dictionary

PLOT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: plotted    , plotting   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal)

Example:

I saw through his little game from the start

Synonyms:

game; plot; secret plan

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("plot" is a kind of...):

scheme; strategy (an elaborate and systematic plan of action)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plot"):

counterplan; counterplot (a plot intended to subvert another plot)

intrigue; machination (a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends)

cabal; conspiracy (a plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act (especially a political plot))

Derivation:

plot (plan secretly, usually something illegal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.

Example:

the characters were well drawn but the plot was banal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("plot" is a kind of...):

story (a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plot"):

action (the series of events that form a plot)

plot line; storyline (the plot of a book or play or film)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A chart or graph showing the movements or progress of an object

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("plot" is a kind of...):

chart; graph (a visual display of information)

Derivation:

plot (make a plat of)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A small area of ground covered by specific vegetation

Example:

a briar patch

Synonyms:

patch; plot; plot of ground; plot of land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("plot" is a kind of...):

parcel; parcel of land; piece of ground; piece of land; tract (an extended area of land)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plot"):

bed (a plot of ground in which plants are growing)

garden (a plot of ground where plants are cultivated)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Plan secretly, usually something illegal

Example:

They plotted the overthrow of the government

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "plot" is one way to...):

plan (make plans for something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plot"):

cabal; complot; conjure; conspire; machinate (engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together)

counterplot (make a plot in response to another plot)

connive; intrigue; scheme (form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They plot to move

Derivation:

plot (a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal))

plotter (a planner who draws up a personal scheme of action)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a plat of

Example:

Plat the town

Synonyms:

plat; plot

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "plot" is one way to...):

map (make a map of; show or establish the features of details of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

plot (a chart or graph showing the movements or progress of an object)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Devise the sequence of events in (a literary work or a play, movie, or ballet)

Example:

the writer is plotting a new novel

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "plot" is one way to...):

contrive; design; plan; project (make or work out a plan for; devise)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make a schematic or technical drawing of that shows interactions among variables or how something is constructed

Synonyms:

diagram; plot

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "plot" is one way to...):

draw (represent by making a drawing of, as with a pencil, chalk, etc. on a surface)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "plot"):

graph (plot upon a graph)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

plotter (an instrument (usually driven by a computer) for drawing graphs or pictures)

plotter (a clerk who marks data on a chart)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"What have you done with me, witch, sorceress? Who is in the room besides you? Have you plotted to drown me?"

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The garden had to be put in order, and each sister had a quarter of the little plot to do what she liked with.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A method for normalization based upon the concept of a quantile-quantile plot extended to n dimensions.

(Bioconductor caAffy Quantiles Robust Normalization, NCI Thesaurus)

Decreased area under the plot of plasma concentration of a concomitant drug against time after its administration.

(Decreased Concomitant Drug AUC, NCI Thesaurus)

Decreased area under the plot of plasma concentration of a drug against time after drug administration.

(Decreased Drug AUC, NCI Thesaurus)

The woman was satisfied with this; but the king’s armour-bearer, who had heard all, was friendly with the young lord, and informed him of the whole plot.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Zero tillage is recommended to avoid high evaporation and transpiration in their plot.

(El Niño linked to widespread crop failures, SciDev.Net)

The area under the curve of a plot of drug concentration eliminated in urine against time.

(Area Under Urinary Excretion Rate Curve, NCI Thesaurus)

Thicker winter snow cover served as an insulator, creating slightly higher temperatures — about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the experimental plots.

(Rising tundra temperatures lead to changes in microbial communities, National Science Foundation)

Forest areas near villages where biogas was used had higher biomass, sapling abundance and species diversity compared with forest plots near villages without biogas.

(Shift to biogas helps revive forests, SciDev.Net)