schemes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of scheme.

   The two architects proposed rival schemes for the new library.

   Investigators uncovered a string of schemes to bribe officials at the port.

   Note

   Honest plans and devious plots share this plural, so the words around it set the tone: rival schemes for a library are proposals, while schemes to bribe officials are crimes. The plural also covers the noun's quieter meanings, such as diagrams of a system and orderly arrangements of parts, and the rhetorician's old schemes, artful departures from the ordinary order of words.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of scheme.

   Behind the scenes, the deputy schemes against the governor at every turn.

   The con artist schemes an elaborate cover story before every job.

   Note

   The verb works in two constructions. With no object it means plotting or maneuvering, and against names the target (the deputy schemes against the governor); with an object it means contriving something (the con artist schemes a cover story). Either way it carries a hint of cunning, which is why it suits rivals and swindlers better than ordinary planners.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2