/ plɒt; NAmE plɑːt/ noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C , U ] the series of events which form the story of a novel, play, film / movie, etc. :
a conventional plot about love and marriage
The book is well organized in terms of plot.
2.
[ C ] plot (to do sth) a secret plan made by a group of people to do sth wrong or illegal
SYN conspiracy
3.
[ C ] a small piece of land that is used or intended for a special purpose :
She bought a small plot of land to build a house on.
a vegetable plot
➡ note at land
•
IDIOMS
- lose the plot
- the plot thickens
■ verb ( -tt- )
1.
plot (with sb) (against sb) to make a secret plan to harm sb, especially a government or its leader
SYN conspire :
[ v ]
They were accused of plotting against the state.
[ vn ]
Military officers were suspected of plotting a coup.
[ v to inf ]
They were plotting to overthrow the government.
2.
[ vn ] plot sth (on sth) to mark sth on a map, for example the position or course of sth :
The earthquake centres had been plotted on a world map.
3.
[ vn ] plot sth (on sth) to make a diagram or chart from some information :
We carefully plotted each patient's response to the drug on a chart.
4.
[ vn ] plot sth (on sth) to mark points on a graph and draw a line or curve connecting them :
First, plot the temperature curve on the graph.
5.
[ vn ] to write the plot of a novel, play, etc. :
a tightly-plotted thriller
••
WORD ORIGIN
late Old English (in sense 3 of the noun), of unknown origin. The sense secret plan , dating from the late 16th cent., is associated with Old French complot dense crowd, secret project, the same word being used occasionally in English from the mid 16th cent.