plant

1 of 2

verb

ˈplant 

planted; planting; plants

transitive verb

1

a

: to put or set in the ground for growth

plant seeds

b

: to set or sow with seeds or plants

c

: implant

2

a

: establish, institute

b

: colonize, settle

c

: to place (animals) in a new locality

d

: to stock with animals

3

a

: to place in or on the ground

b

: to place firmly or forcibly

planted a hard blow on his chin

4

a

: conceal

b

: to covertly place for discovery, publication, or dissemination

intransitive verb

: to plant something

plantable

ˈplan-tə-bəl 

adjective

plant

2 of 2

noun

1

a

: a young tree, vine, shrub, or herb planted or suitable for planting

b

: any of a kingdom (Plantae) of multicellular eukaryotic mostly photosynthetic organisms typically lacking locomotive movement or obvious nervous or sensory organs and possessing cellulose cell walls

2

a

: the land, buildings, machinery, apparatus, and fixtures employed in carrying on a trade or an industrial business

b

: a factory or workshop for the manufacture of a particular product

also : power plant

c

: the total facilities available for production or service

d

: the buildings and other physical equipment of an institution

3

: an act of planting

4

: something or someone planted

plantlike

ˈplant-ˌlīk 

adjective

Synonyms

Verb

• drill
• put in
• seed
• sow

Noun

• factory
• manufactory
• mill
• shop
• works
• workshop

Examples of plant in a Sentence

Verb

I planted corn this year.

I planted the border with roses.

a field planted with corn

She planted stakes in the garden to hold the vines.

I firmly planted my feet and refused to move.

He planted himself in front of the TV and stayed there.

Terrorists planted a bomb in the bus station.

She claims that the police planted the drugs in her car.

He was a spy planted in the office by a rival company.

Someone planted a rumor saying that he had died.

Noun

The gangsters never suspected that he was a police plant.

a furniture plant that employs hundreds of people

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The countless number of men who came via rail to work on Henry Ford’s $5-a-day assembly lines, which debuted the same month as MCS, were planting the seeds for the station’s ultimate neglect and demise. —Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Dec. 2024

Green thumbs can plant milkweed at home, and people can push legislators to support conservation efforts. —Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 23 Dec. 2024

Noun

The only items recovered included animal bones, remnants of wood and ropes and three baskets containing plant material, which may have constituted part of the ship's stores and provision. —Newsweek, 25 Dec. 2024

The butterflies also carried two types of pollen on their bodies, both from plant species found only in Africa. —Danielle Hall, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English plantian, from Late Latin plantare to plant, fix in place, from Latin, to plant, from planta plant

Noun

Middle English plante, from Old English, from Latin planta

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing plant

• air plant
• castor-oil plant
• century plant
• Chinese money plant
• climbing plant
• compass plant
• corpse plant
• face-plant
• flowering plant
• foliage plant
• gas plant
• ice plant
• inch plant
• indigo plant
• jade plant
• jumping plant louse
• money plant
• musk plant
• nonvascular plant
• oyster plant
• pancake plant
• pitcher plant
• plant-based
• plant food
• plant hormone
• plant kingdom
• plant louse
• plant/sow a seed of
• plant/sow the seeds of
• pot plant
• power plant
• prayer plant
• rubber plant
• seed plant
• sensitive plant
• sewage plant
• sewage treatment plant
• silver dollar plant
• snake plant
• snow plant
• soap plant
• spider plant
• Swiss cheese plant
• tarnished plant bug
• umbrella plant
• unicorn plant
• vascular plant

Kids Definition

plant

1 of 2 verb

ˈplant 

1

a

: to put or set in the ground to grow

plant seeds

b

: to set permanently in the consciousness of : implant

plant good habits

2

a

: to cause to become established

plant colonies

b

: to stock or provide with something usually to grow or increase

plant fields to corn

plant a stream with trout

3

a

: to place or fix in the ground

planted stakes to hold the vines

b

: to place firmly or forcibly

planted themselves right in our way

4

: to place or introduce so as to mislead

plant a spy

plant

2 of 2 noun

1

: any of a kingdom of mostly photosynthetic living things usually lacking the ability to move from place to place under their own power, having no obvious nervous or sensory organs, possessing cellulose cell walls, and often having a body that is able to keep growing without taking on a fixed size and shape

2

a

: the land, buildings, and equipment of an organization

the college plant

b

: a building or workshop for the manufacture of a product : factory

c

: power plant

3

: something or someone planted

left muddy footprints as a plant to confuse the police

plantlike

-ˌlīk 

adjective