■ noun
1》 a plan made in secret by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful.
2》 the main sequence of events in a play, novel, or film.
3》 a small piece of ground marked out for building, gardening, etc.
4》 a graph showing the relation between two variables.
↘ chiefly US a diagram, chart, or map.
■ verb ( ~s , ~ting , ~ted )
1》 secretly make plans to carry out (something illegal or harmful).
2》 devise the ~ of (a play, novel, or film).
3》 mark (a route or position) on a chart.
↘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.
Phrases
lose the ~ Brit. informal lose one's ability to understand or cope with what is happening.
the ~ thickens see thicken .
Derivatives
~less adjective
~ter noun
~ty adjective ( informal ).
Origin
OE (in sense 3 of the noun), of unknown origin; the sense 'secret plan' is assoc. with OFr. com~ 'dense crowd, secret project'.