n.
- a plan made in secret by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful.
- the main sequence of events in a play, novel, or film.
- a small piece of ground marked out for building, gardening, etc.
- a graph showing the relation between two variables.
▸chiefly US a diagram, chart, or map.
v.
(plots, plotting, plotted)
- secretly make plans to carry out (something illegal or harmful).
- devise the plot of (a play, novel, or film).
- 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.
Phrase
- lose the plot
Brit. informal lose one's ability to understand or cope with what is happening. - the plot thickens
see thicken.
Derivative
- plotless adj.
- plotter n.
- plotty adj. (informal).
Etymology
OE (in sense 3 of the noun), of unknown origin; the sense ‘secret plan’ is assoc. with OFr. complot ‘dense crowd, secret project’.