plan

Pluralplans

Formsplans, planning, planned

1. 1
   course of actionnouncountable

   A set of actions worked out in advance to achieve something.

   The escape plan depended on perfect timing at every stage.

   Their business plans fell apart when the funding dried up.

   UsageYou make a plan, and things go according to plan; plans can mean intentions: any plans for the weekend?

   Similarscheme, strategy, program

   Note

   Most plans are made: make is the verb this sense keeps company with, and the plural often stands for a person's intentions in general. A saying in print by the 1950s, made famous by John Lennon's 1980 song "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)," leans on that idiom: it observes that life passes while we attend to plans for something else. Having a goal is not the same as having a plan, because a plan needs the steps as well as the aim.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To work out in advance the actions needed for something.

   The committee planned the entire festival in just two months.

   Engineers plan each phase of the construction before work begins.

   UsageYou plan a trip or an event; to think ahead in general is to plan ahead.

   Similarorganize, arrange, prepare, schedule, devise

3. 3
   intendverbintransitive

   To have something as one's intention.

   They plan to expand into new markets next year.

   He had always planned to retire by sixty.

   UsageUse plan to + verb or plan on + -ing: plan to leave, plan on leaving.

   Similarintend, aim, mean, propose, expect

   Note

   The progressive sits naturally here, as when The Economist wrote in 2013 that a government "is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight." Nothing need be worked out in advance (he planned to go, but work intervened). That separates it from making a plan, where thinking ahead is the point and the verb takes the thing arranged as its object: plan the trip, plan a wedding. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The Economist published the cited article in 2013. biblioteca.udd.cl
   • The quoted wording is exact and concerns a government. en.wiktionary.org
4. 4
   subscriptionnouncountable

   An arrangement to receive a service, usually for a recurring fee.

   The streaming service offers three subscription plans at different prices.

   My old phone plan kept charging me for extra minutes, so I switched to one with unlimited calls.

   Similarpackage, subscription, tariff, contract

5. 5
   drawing from abovenouncountable

   A drawing of a building, room, machine, or similar seen from above or in outline, showing its layout and main parts.

   The floor plan revealed an open layout connecting the kitchen and living room.

   The architect laid the plan of the second story beside the elevation so we could compare them.

   Similarblueprint, layout, diagram, drawing

   Note

   Architects set this drawing against the elevation. A plan looks down on a building or floor, while an elevation shows it from the side. The contrast gives the phrase in plan, used with no article, as in seen in plan, meaning "viewed from above." Floor plan is the everyday compound, and the French source word meant the ground-plot of a building, so this is the most literal sense. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • A plan shows a building or floor from above. en.wikipedia.org
   • An elevation shows a building from one side. en.wikipedia.org
   • English plan comes from French plan, whose meanings included ground plot. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   nouncountable

   A set arrangement under which money or rewards are saved, invested or handed out, such as a pension or an employee incentive program.

   Employees can put part of each paycheck into the company's pension plan before taxes.

   The new incentive plan rewards store managers who cut waste and raise sales.

   UsagePeople join, enroll in or pay into a plan; British English often says scheme instead, as in a pension scheme.

   Similarscheme, program

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