# plant Pronunciation: US/AUS say "PLANT" /plænt/; UK say "PLAHNT" /plɑːnt/ ## Noun 1. A living thing that grows in soil or water, usually makes its own food from sunlight, and cannot move about, such as a tree, flower, or grass. - Simple: A living thing like a tree, flower, or grass that grows in soil or water and usually makes food from sunlight. - _Each plant in the greenhouse was labeled with its species name._ - _Most plants produce their own food from sunlight in their leaves._ 2. A factory, or other industrial or institutional building or facility, where production or operations take place. - Simple: A large building where machines make things or where work is done. - _The automotive plant runs three shifts a day._ - _Workers at the bottling plant went on strike over pay._ 5. Machinery, equipment, and other supplies of the kind used in heavy industry, light industry, earthmoving, or construction. - Simple: Machines and equipment used in industry or building work, especially big, heavy ones. - _The construction firm leases plant rather than buying it outright._ - _Operators must be trained before using heavy plant._ 9. An object placed in secret in order to make suspicion fall on a particular person. - Simple: Something left somewhere in secret to make someone look guilty. - _The defense argued that the bloody glove was a plant._ - _Investigators dismissed the threatening letter as a plant._ 10. A person secretly placed among others, such as in a group or audience, to spy or to act a planned part. - Simple: Someone put secretly in a group or crowd to spy or to do something planned while seeming ordinary. - _A plant inside the protest group reported back to investigators._ - _The operation relied on a plant who blended in with the crowd._ 8. Any organism that grows on soil or similar surfaces, including both plants and fungi. *(nonstandard)* - Simple: Any living thing that grows on the ground, including green plants and mushrooms. - _The children pointed at the toadstools beside the path and asked what kind of plant they were._ - _Foragers gathered any useful plant from the woods, mushrooms and herbs together._ 14. In snooker, a shot in which the cue ball strikes one ball into another so the second is potted. - Simple: In snooker, a shot that uses one ball to knock another ball into a pocket. - _He attempted a difficult plant to pot the red into the corner pocket._ - _With the reds packed tight, he spotted a plant, nudging one red into another so the second dropped into the corner pocket._ ## Verb 3. To put seeds or young plants in the ground to grow, or to fill an area with plants. - Simple: To put seeds or young plants into the ground so they grow, or to fill a place with plants. - _Farmers plant wheat in early fall._ - _He planted an oak sapling near the pond._ 4. To place an object or person somewhere secretly, often in order to deceive or mislead others. - Simple: To secretly put something or someone somewhere, often to trick people. - _An informant planted a microphone inside the office._ - _Rivals attempted to plant false rumors in the press._ 6. To put or set something firmly in place, especially into the ground. - Simple: To put something firmly in a place, like a flag in the ground or your feet on the floor. - _The crew planted markers across the field._ - _Engineers plant steel supports into the bedrock for stability._ 7. To introduce and establish the first principles or seeds of something, such as an idea or belief. - Simple: To introduce an idea or belief and make it take firm hold in someone's mind. - _The speech planted doubt in the minds of the voters._ - _Early lessons plant values that shape a whole life._ 11. To furnish a place with a fixed, organized population; to settle or establish a community. - Simple: To fill a new area with settlers and set up a community there. - _The crown planted settlers along the contested border._ - _The settlers sailed with tools, livestock, and their families, determined to plant a lasting colony on the far shore._ 12. To set up or install something, or to put someone into a position or office. - Simple: To put someone in a job or position, or to set something up in its place. - _The committee moved to plant a loyal ally in the chairman's seat._ - _The new regime planted loyal officials throughout the ministry._ ## Noun 13. A scheme or trick intended to swindle or deceive someone. *(dated)* - Simple: A clever trick or secret plan made to fool or cheat someone. 15. A young tree or sapling; by extension, a stick or staff. *(obsolete)* - Simple: A young tree or sapling, and so also a stick or staff. 16. A concealed stash or cache of goods. *(obsolete)* - Simple: A hidden store of goods kept out of sight. 17. A spot or pitch in the street from which a trader sells goods. *(obsolete, UK)* - Simple: A spot in the street where someone sets up to sell things. 18. The flat underside, or sole, of the foot. *(obsolete)* - Simple: The flat bottom part of the foot. ## Other meanings - (noun) A system, such as a motor, whose behavior is regulated by a separate control system. - (noun) An oyster raised in a cultivated bed, or a young oyster fit for moving to such a bed. ## Origin The noun comes from Middle English and Old English plante (a young tree, shrub, or newly planted herb), from Proto-West Germanic *plantu, from Latin planta ("sprout, shoot, cutting"); the broader sense of vegetation generally came through Old French plante. The verb comes from Old English plantian, from Latin plantāre, later influenced by Old French planter. It is a doublet of clan, and the factory and machinery senses developed from the Latin idea of something that produces. Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/plant (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).