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.
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 plat1, 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
SYNONYMS FOR plot
1 intrigue, cabal.
9 brew, hatch, frame.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR plot ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for plot
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.
historical usage of plot
The word plot has no known origin and exists solely in English. The noun dates from the late 10th or early 11th century and originally meant “a small piece of land or area of ground.” Plot in the sense “a small piece of land in a cemetery” was originally an Americanism and dates from the mid-19th century. In the mid-16th century, plot was used to refer to a map, ground plan, sketch, or written outline. At about the same time, it also came to mean “a secret, usually evil plan”; the verb meaning “to plan secretly, devise” comes from that sense of the noun. Plot in the sense “a storyline or main story of a play or novel” dates from the early 17th century.
OTHER WORDS FROM plot
plotful,adjectiveplotless,adjectiveplot·less·ness,nounoutplot,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-plotted,adjective
What followed, prosecutors said, was a criminal plot by his underlings to cyberstalk the couple.
Four ex-eBay employees to admit guilt in cyberstalking plot|Verne Kopytoff|September 23, 2020|Fortune
Counseling, rehab, a lot of medication, trial and error, quitting drinking, and support from family and friends have essentially kept me here and with the plot.
The Accidental Attempted Murder|Eugene Robinson|September 2, 2020|Ozy
Over subsequent days, the hacker met with the employee multiple times to hash out the plot, unaware that the FBI was listening in.
The FBI broke up a Russian hacker plot to extort millions from Tesla|Aaron Pressman|August 28, 2020|Fortune
After rejecting all possible sources of error they could think of, the researchers came up with three explanations that would fit the size and shape of the bump in their data plots.
Dark Matter Experiment Finds Unexplained Signal|Natalie Wolchover|June 17, 2020|Quanta Magazine
And, if you’ve forgotten, here’s the plot summary, as told by Anya Dubner.
Does Hollywood Still Have a Princess Problem? (Ep. 394)|Stephen J. Dubner|October 24, 2019|Freakonomics
They were able to purchase weapons and plot attacks on the island without much interference.
Of Cuban Spies, a Baby, and a Filmmaker: The Strange Tale of the Cuban Five|Nina Strochlic|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The plot was a string of anecdotes from the senseless shootings of friends that Brinsley knew.