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plant

Syllabification: (plant)
Pronunciation: /plant/

Translate plant | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of plant

noun

  • 1a living organism of the kind exemplified by trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses, ferns, and mosses, typically growing in a permanent site, absorbing water and inorganic substances through its roots, and synthesizing nutrients in its leaves by photosynthesis using the green pigment chlorophyll.
  • a small plant, as distinct from a shrub or tree:garden plants
  • Plants differ from animals in lacking specialized sense organs, having no capacity for voluntary movement, having cell walls, and growing to suit their surroundings rather than having a fixed body plan

  • 2a place where an industrial or manufacturing process takes place:the company has 30 plants in Mexico
  • machinery used in an industrial or manufacturing process:inadequate investment in new plant
  • 3a person placed in a group as a spy or informer:we thought he was a CIA plant spreading disinformation
  • a thing put among someone’s belongings to incriminate or compromise them:he insisted that the cocaine in the glove compartment was a plant

verb

[with object]
  • 1place (a seed, bulb, or plant) in the ground so that it can grow.
  • place a seed, bulb, or plant in (a place) to grow:the garden is planted with herbs
  • informal bury (someone).
  • 2place or fix in a specified position:she planted a kiss on his cheek
  • (plant oneself) position oneself:she planted herself on the arm of his chair
  • establish (an idea) in someone’s mind:the seed of doubt is planted in his mind
  • secretly place (a bomb that is set to go off at a later time).
  • put or hide (something) among someone’s belongings to compromise or incriminate the owner:he planted drugs on him to extort a bribe
  • send (someone) to join a group or organization to act as a spy or informer.
  • found or establish (a colony, city, or community).
  • deposit (young fish, spawn, oysters, etc.) in a river or lake.

Derivatives

plantable

adjective

plantlet

Pronunciation: /-lit/

noun

plantlike

Pronunciation: /-ˌlīk/

adjective

Origin:

Old English plante 'seedling', plantian (verb), from Latin planta 'sprout, cutting' (later influenced by French plante) and plantare 'plant, fix in a place'

plant in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of plant in the British & World English dictionary