plant

1 of 2

verb

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
2
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
b
: to covertly place for discovery, publication, or dissemination

intransitive verb

: to plant something
plantable 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 adjective

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
Prices have dropped over the last several years, and the state’s total almond acreage has started to decrease as growers have begun to tear out orchards and plant other crops. Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024 Washington can trace its earliest winemaking roots to the 1860s, when Italian and German immigrants planted vines to make wines for their own consumption and local commercial distribution. Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 29 Feb. 2024 People speculated on what the surgery could be for—some guessed a hysterectomy, for example—but Kensington Palace didn’t share the reason, perhaps planting a seed in people’s minds that there’s something to hide, especially since Buckingham Palace had been forthcoming about the king’s issues. Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 29 Feb. 2024 The aerodynamic downforce needed to firmly plant the Roadster’s wheels on the road and maintain grip at that pace would have to be truly staggering. Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024 Revisiting the decision later can also plant seeds of uncertainty. Mark Travers, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 Dickie plants a kiss on Tom’s cheek when the song ends. Hazlitt, 28 Feb. 2024 According to the mayor, the physical building is down now, and planting and curbs will be done sometime in the spring. Adrienne Davis, Journal Sentinel, 26 Feb. 2024 Another sweet photo shows Ruben planting a kiss on his wife’s cheek as the pair closes their eyes. Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024
Noun
That factory is Tesla’s biggest car manufacturing plant outside the United States and accounted for the bulk of its global deliveries last year. Kocha Olarn, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024 Enter wasabi, a plant that’s native to Japan, Korea and the Russian Far East. Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Mar. 2024 Ranchers and state officials do not yet know the overall number of cattle killed in wildfires that have burned 1,950 square miles (5,050 square kilometers), briefly shut down a nuclear power plant, charred hundreds of homes and other structures, and left two people dead. Sean Murphy, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2024 Not every plant is vulnerable to insects and diseases. Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 2 Mar. 2024 Our daily patterns, weather, ocean processes, food production, plant growth, and so much more depends on energy from sun. Marshall Shepherd, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2024 The plants here grow up to three feet long and pop between mid-April and early May. Talia Avakian, Travel + Leisure, 2 Mar. 2024 White Pine Wilderness Academy The White Pine Wilderness Academy offers day camp options for two weeks in the summer where kids ages 4-17 can experience activities like fire-making, wood splitting, plant ID, foraging, crafting, scouting, tracking, and storytelling. Caroline Beck, The Indianapolis Star, 1 Mar. 2024 These techniques, such as herbalism – treatments made of plants – later became associated with court physicians. Alessandro Poletto, The Conversation, 1 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'plant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of plant was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near plant

Cite this Entry

“Plant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plant. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

plant

1 of 2 verb
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
3
: something or someone planted
left muddy footprints as a plant to confuse the police
plantlike adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on plant

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