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plot
plot / plät/ • n. 1. a plan made in secret by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful: there's a plot to overthrow the government. 2. the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence. 3. a small piece of ground marked out for a purpose such as building or gardening: a vegetable plot. 4. a graph showing the relation between two variables. ∎ a diagram, chart, or map. • v. (plot·ted , plot·ting ) [tr.] 1. secretly make plans to carry out (an illegal or harmful action): the two men are serving sentences for plotting a bomb campaign | [intr.] Erica has been plotting against me all along. 2. devise the sequence of events in (a play, novel, movie, or similar work). 3. mark (a route or position) on a chart: he started to plot lines of ancient sites. ∎ mark out or allocate (points) on a graph. ∎ make (a curve) by marking out a number of such points. ∎ illustrate by use of a graph: it is possible to plot fairly closely the rate at which recruitment of girls increased. PHRASES: lose the plot inf. lose one's ability to understand or cope with what is happening: many people believe that he is feeling the strain or has lost the plot. the plot thickenssee thicken.DERIVATIVES: plot·less adj. plot·ter / ˈplätər/ n. |
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"plot." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "plot." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-plot.html "plot." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-plot.html |
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plot
plot
A. small piece of ground XI; B. †groundplan, scheme, outline XVI; plan of a literary work XVII; C. secret plan, conspiracy XVI. Properly three words; in A late OE. plot, of unkn. orig.; in B alt. of plat (early XVI, now U.S.), which was orig. a var. of plot in sense A, or (as in grass plat, etc.), partly assoc. with late ME. plat flat place or space (— (O)F. plat PLATE); in C superseding earlier complot XVI (— (O)F. complot †dense crowd, secret project, of unkn. orig.) by assoc. with sense B. Hence plot vb. to make a plan of, contrive. XVI. |
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T. F. HOAD. "plot." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "plot." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-plot.html T. F. HOAD. "plot." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-plot.html |
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plot
plot n.
1. a map, chart, or graph representing data of any sort. 2. a. the representation on a diagram or chart of the position or course of a target in terms of angle and distances from positions. b. the location of a position on a map or a chart. 3. the visual display of a single location of an airborne object at a particular instant of time. 4. a portion of a map or overlay on which are drawn the outlines of the areas covered by one or more photographs. |
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"plot." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "plot." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-plot.html "plot." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-plot.html |
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plot
plot lose the plot lose one's ability to understand or cope with what is happening, lose touch with reality.
the plot thickens the situation becomes more difficult and complex; from George Villiers The Rehearsal (1671). |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "plot." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "plot." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-plot.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "plot." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-plot.html |
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plot
plot •allot, begot, Bernadotte, blot, bot, capot, clot, cocotte, cot, culotte, dot, forgot, garrotte (US garrote), gavotte, got, grot, hot, jot, knot, lot, Mayotte, motte, not, Ott, outshot, plot, pot, rot, sans-culotte, Scot, Scott, shallot, shot, slot, snot, sot, spot, squat, stot, swat, swot, tot, trot, twat, undershot, Wat, Watt, what, wot, yacht
•robot • hotshot • peridot • microdot
•Wyandot • polka dot • fylfot • mascot
•Caldecott • carrycot • apricot
•boycott • dovecote • sandlot • melilot
•polyglot • Camelot • ocelot
•monoglot • sub-plot • Lancelot
•cachalot • counterplot • Wilmot
•guillemot • motmot • bergamot
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Cite this article
"plot." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "plot." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-plot.html "plot." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-plot.html |
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