plant

[[t]plænt, plɑnt[/t]]

n.

1) bio tax any member of the kingdom Plantae, comprising multicellular organisms that produce food from sunlight and inorganic matter by the process of photosynthesis and that have rigid cell walls containing cellulose, including the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, and hornworts

2) bot an herb or other small vegetable growth, in contrast with a tree or shrub

3) bot a seedling or a growing slip, esp. one ready for transplanting

4) a factory, workshop, etc., where a product is manufactured

5) the equipment, machinery, tools, etc., necessary to carry on any industrial business

6) the complete equipment or apparatus for a particular mechanical operation:

a heating plant[/ex]

7) the buildings, equipment, etc., of an institution:

the university plant[/ex]

8) sts a scheme to trap, trick, or defraud

9) cv sbz a person or thing placed secretly or strategically, as to gather information, provoke responses, or advance a plot or scheme

10) to put or set in the ground for growth, as seeds, shrubs, or young trees

11) to furnish or stock (land) with plants

12) to establish or implant (ideas, principles, etc.)

13) to bed (oysters)

14) to insert or set firmly in or on the ground:

to plant fence posts[/ex]

15) to place; put

16) to place or station with great force or determination:

He planted himself in the doorway[/ex]

17) cv sbz to place (something) in order to advance a plot, obtain a desired result, etc.:

The police planted a story in the newspaper to trap the thief[/ex]

18) cv sbz to place (a person) secretly in a situation, as to gather information or stir up reactions:

to plant a spy[/ex]

19) sts to hide or conceal, as stolen goods

20) to settle or found (a colony, etc.)

21) to plant crops, seeds, etc

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Etymology: bef. 900; (n.) ME plaunte (< OF plante), OE plante < L planta a shoot, plant; (v.) ME plaunten (< OF planter), OE plantian < L plantāre, der. of the n. plant′a•ble, adj.