plot
    n 1: a secret scheme to do something (especially something
         underhand or illegal); "they concocted a plot to discredit
         the governor"; "I saw through his little game from the
         start" [syn: plot, secret plan, game]
    2: a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation; "a
       bean plot"; "a cabbage patch"; "a briar patch" [syn: plot,
       plot of land, plot of ground, patch]
    3: the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.; "the
       characters were well drawn but the plot was banal"
    4: a chart or map showing the movements or progress of an object
    v 1: plan secretly, usually something illegal; "They plotted the
         overthrow of the government"
    2: make a schematic or technical drawing of that shows
       interactions among variables or how something is constructed
       [syn: diagram, plot]
    3: make a plat of; "Plat the town" [syn: plat, plot]
    4: devise the sequence of events in (a literary work or a play,
       movie, or ballet); "the writer is plotting a new novel"

Plot \Plot\, v. t.
   To plan; to scheme; to devise; to contrive secretly.
   "Plotting an unprofitable crime." --Dryden. "Plotting now the
   fall of others." --Milton
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Plot \Plot\, n. [AS. plot; cf. Goth. plats a patch. Cf. Plat a
   piece of ground.]
   1. A small extent of ground; a plat; as, a garden plot.
      --Shak.
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   2. A plantation laid out. [Obs.] --Sir P. Sidney.
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   3. (Surv.) A plan or draught of a field, farm, estate, etc.,
      drawn to a scale.
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Plot \Plot\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plotted; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Plotting.]
   To make a plot, map, pr plan, of; to mark the position of on
   a plan; to delineate.
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         This treatise plotteth down Cornwall as it now
         standeth.                                --Carew.
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Plot \Plot\, n. [Abbrev. from complot.]
   1. Any scheme, stratagem, secret design, or plan, of a
      complicated nature, adapted to the accomplishment of some
      purpose, usually a treacherous and mischievous one; a
      conspiracy; an intrigue; as, the Rye-house Plot.
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            I have overheard a plot of death.     --Shak.
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            O, think what anxious moments pass between
            The birth of plots and their last fatal periods!
                                                  --Addison.
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   2. A share in such a plot or scheme; a participation in any
      stratagem or conspiracy. [Obs.]
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            And when Christ saith, Who marries the divorced
            commits adultery, it is to be understood, if he had
            any plot in the divorce.              --Milton.
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   3. Contrivance; deep reach of thought; ability to plot or
      intrigue. [Obs.] "A man of much plot." --Denham.
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   4. A plan; a purpose. "No other plot in their religion but
      serve God and save their souls." --Jer. Taylor.
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   5. In fiction, the story of a play, novel, romance, or poem,
      comprising a complication of incidents which are gradually
      unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.
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            If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as
            springs from the subject, then the winding up of the
            plot must be a probable consequence of all that went
            before.                               --Pope.
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   Syn: Intrigue; stratagem; conspiracy; cabal; combination;
        contrivance.
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Plot \Plot\ (pl[o^]t), v. i.
   1. To form a scheme of mischief against another, especially
      against a government or those who administer it; to
      conspire. --Shak.
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            The wicked plotteth against the just. --Ps. xxxvii.
                                                  12.
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   2. To contrive a plan or stratagem; to scheme.
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            The prince did plot to be secretly gone. --Sir H.
                                                  Wotton.
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