any member of the kingdom Plantae, comprising multicellular organisms that typically produce their own food from inorganic matter by the process of photosynthesis and that have more or less rigid cell walls containing cellulose, including vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, and hornworts: some classification schemes may include fungi, algae, bacteria, blue-green algae, and certain single-celled eukaryotes that have plantlike qualities, as rigid cell walls or photosynthesis.
an herb or other small vegetable growth, in contrast with a tree or a shrub.
a seedling or a growing slip, especially one ready for transplanting.
the equipment, including the fixtures, machinery, tools, etc., and often the buildings, necessary to carry on any industrial business: a manufacturing plant.
the complete equipment or apparatus for a particular mechanical process or operation: the heating plant for a home.
the buildings, equipment, etc., of an institution: the sprawling plant of the university.
Slang. something intended to trap, decoy, or lure, as criminals.
Slang. a scheme to trap, trick, swindle, or defraud.
a person, placed in an audience, whose rehearsed or prepared reactions, comments, etc., appear spontaneous to the rest of the audience.
a person placed secretly in a group or organization, as by a foreign government, to obtain internal or secret information, stir up discontent, etc.
Theater. a line of dialogue, or a character, action, etc., introducing an idea or theme that will be further developed at a later point in the play: Afterward we remembered the suicide plant in the second act.
verb (used with object)
to put or set in the ground for growth, as seeds, young trees, etc.
to furnish or stock (land) with plants: to plant a section with corn.
to establish or implant (ideas, principles, doctrines, etc.): to plant a love for learning in growing children.
to introduce (a breed of animals) into a country.
to deposit (young fish, or spawn) in a river, lake, etc.
to bed (oysters).
to insert or set firmly in or on the ground or some other body or surface: to plant posts along a road.
Theater. to insert or place (an idea, person, or thing) in a play.
to place; put.
to place with great force, firmness, or determination: He planted himself in the doorway as if daring us to try to enter. He planted a big kiss on his son's cheek.
to station; post: to plant a police officer on every corner.
to locate; situate: Branch stores are planted all over.
to establish (a colony, city, etc.); found.
to settle (persons), as in a colony.
to say or place (something) in order to obtain a desired result, especially one that will seem spontaneous: The police planted the story in the newspaper in order to trap the thief.
Carpentry. to nail, glue, or otherwise attach (a molding or the like) to a surface.
to place (a person) secretly in a group to function as a spy or to promote discord.
Slang. to hide or conceal, as stolen goods.
Origin of plant
before 900; (noun) Middle English plaunte; in part continuing Old English plante sapling, young plant (<Latin planta); in part (<Old French plante) <Latin planta a shoot, sprig, scion (for planting), plant; (v.) Middle English plaunten; in part continuing Old English plantian (<Latin plantāre); in part (<Old French planter) <Latin plantāre to plant
OTHER WORDS FROM plant
plant·a·ble,adjectiveplantless,adjectiveplantlike,adjectivemis·plant,verb (used with object)
o·ver·plant,verb (used with object)pre·plant,verb (used with object)self-planted,adjectivesubplant,nounun·der·plant,verb (used with object)un·plant·a·ble,adjectiveun·plant·ed,adjectivewell-planted,adjective
Words nearby plant
planosol, planospore, planovalgus, plan position indicator, plansheer, plant, planta, Plantae, Plantagenet, planta genista, plant agreement
Further evidence has come from two more recent outbreaks, the first at a seafood processing plant in Oregon and the second at a chicken processing plant in Arkansas.
Cloth Masks Do Protect The Wearer – Breathing In Less Coronavirus Means You Get Less Sick|LGBTQ-Editor|August 20, 2020|No Straight News
Nearly one in every three of the plants had pesticide levels known to be lethal to monarchs.
Pesticides contaminate most food of western U.S. monarchs|Rebecca E. Hirsch|August 17, 2020|Science News For Students
Wadley’s team also found bits of burned wood in the bedding containing fragments of camphor leaves, an aromatic plant that can be used as a bug repellent.
The oldest known grass beds from 200,000 years ago included insect repellents|Bruce Bower|August 13, 2020|Science News
Altogether, 9% of the nation’s meat plant workers—around 30,000 people—have contracted the virus, according to a recent analysis by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The logjam of cattle stuck on feedlots is beginning to clear|Tim McDonnell|July 13, 2020|Quartz
The biggest machine learning algorithms use closer to a nuclear power plant’s worth of electricity and racks of chips to learn.
MIT Wants to Put AI in Your Pocket With Confetti-Sized Brain Chip|Jason Dorrier|June 11, 2020|Singularity Hub
They learn about science, plant bulbs and watch them grow, and identify birds who visit the birdhouses.
Magical Gardens for the Blind, Deaf, and Disabled|Elizabeth Picciuto|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Chinese government banned qat earlier this year, and classified the plant as a dangerous narcotic.
Chinese Getting Hooked on the Middle East's Favorite Drug|Brendon Hong|October 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Borlaug studied forestry, and then obtained a Ph.D. in plant pathology.
Now, here was a key moment: When she came to America in 2006, where was Hirsi Ali going to plant her flag?
Bill Maher 1, Ben Affleck 0|Michael Tomasky|October 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Since rat root comes from a plant that grows on the edge of the lake there are concerns that the plant is carrying toxins.
Our Trip to The Climate War's Ground Zero|Darren Aronofsky|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I think we could have for dissemination circulars which would stimulate people to plant nut trees more widely than at present.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the|Various
The blossoms of this plant are bright red, usually more or less tinged with yellow.
Flowers of Mountain and Plain|Edith S. Clements
It is, however, a fact that if a plant is removed from natural conditions into cultivation, a well-marked variation occurs.
Darwin and Modern Science|A.C. Seward and Others
Sachs had shown that the starch passes down to other parts of the plant in solution as glucose.
Disease in Plants|H. Marshall Ward
Nearly three thousand years ago, the Phœnicians began to plant colonies in the South of Spain.
Vine and Olive; Or Young America in Spain and Portugal|Oliver Optic
British Dictionary definitions for plant (1 of 2)
plant1
/ (plɑːnt) /
noun
any living organism that typically synthesizes its food from inorganic substances, possesses cellulose cell walls, responds slowly and often permanently to a stimulus, lacks specialized sense organs and nervous system, and has no powers of locomotion
such an organism that is green, terrestrial, and smaller than a shrub or tree; a herb
a cutting, seedling, or similar structure, esp when ready for transplantation
informala thing positioned secretly for discovery by another, esp in order to incriminate an innocent person
billiardssnookera position in which the cue ball can be made to strike an intermediate which then pockets another ball
verb(tr)
(often foll by out)to set (seeds, crops, etc) into (ground) to grow
to place firmly in position
to establish; found
to implant in the mind
slangto deliver (a blow)
informalto position or hide, esp in order to deceive or observe
to place (young fish, oysters, spawn, etc) in (a lake, river, etc) in order to stock the water
See also plant out
Derived forms of plant
plantable, adjectiveplantlike, adjective
Word Origin for plant
Old English, from Latin planta a shoot, cutting
British Dictionary definitions for plant (2 of 2)
plant2
/ (plɑːnt) /
noun
the land, buildings, and equipment used in carrying on an industrial, business, or other undertaking or service
(as modifier)plant costs
a factory or workshop
mobile mechanical equipment for construction, road-making, etc
Any of a wide variety of multicellular eukaryotic organisms, belonging to the kingdom Plantae and including the bryophytes and vascular plants. Plant cells have cell walls made of cellulose. Except for a few specialized symbionts, plants have chlorophyll and manufacture their own food through photosynthesis. Most plants grow in a fixed location and reproduce sexually, showing an alternation of generations between a diploid stage (with each cell having two sets of chromosomes) and haploid stage (with each cell having one set of chromosomes) in their life cycle. The first fossil plants date from the Silurian period. Formerly the algae, slime molds, dinoflagellates, and fungi, among other groups, were classified as plants, but now these are considered to belong to other kingdoms. See Table at taxonomy.