plant
(plɑːnt , plænt )
Word forms: plants , planting , planted
1. countable noun A1
A plant is a living thing that grows in the earth and has a stem, leaves, and roots.
Water each plant as often as required.
...exotic plants.
Synonyms: flower, bush, vegetable, herb
2. See also bedding plant, pot plant, rubber plant
3. verb B1+
When you plant a seed, plant, or young tree, you put it into the ground so that it will grow there.
He says he plans to plant fruit trees and vegetables. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: sow, scatter, set out, transplant
planting uncountable noun
Extensive flooding in the country has delayed planting and many crops are still under water.
4. verb
When someone plants land with a particular type of plant or crop, they put plants, seeds, or young trees into the land to grow them there.
They plan to plant the area with grass and trees. [VERB noun + with]
Recently much of their energy has gone into planting a large vegetable garden. [VERB noun]
...newly planted fields. [VERB-ed]
Synonyms: seed, sow, implant
5. countable noun
A plant is a factory or a place where power is produced.
...Ford's British car assembly plants.
The plant provides forty per cent of the country's electricity.
Synonyms: factory, works, shop, yard
6. uncountable noun
Plant is large machinery that is used in industrial processes.
...investment in plant and equipment.
7. verb
If you plant something somewhere, you put it there firmly.
She planted her feet wide and bent her knees slightly. [VERB noun adverb/preposition]
...with his enormous feet planted heavily apart. [V-ed adv/prep]
Synonyms: place, put, set, settle
8. verb B2
To plant something such as a bomb means to hide it somewhere so that it explodes or works there.
So far no one has admitted planting the bomb. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: hide, put, place, conceal
9. verb [oft passive]
If something such as a weapon or drugs is planted on someone, it is put among their possessions or in their house so that they will be wrongly accused of a crime.
He claimed that the evidence had been planted to incriminate him. [be VERB-ed]
10. verb
If an organization plants someone somewhere, they send that person there so that they can get information or watch someone secretly.
Journalists informed police, who planted an undercover detective to trap their target. [VERB noun]
11. verb
If you plant a kiss on someone, you give them a kiss.
She planted a kiss on each of his leathery cheeks. [VERB noun on noun]
12. verb
If you plant an idea in someone's mind, they begin to accept the idea without realizing that it has originally come from you and not from them.
He hoped that he could plant the idea in such a way that the manager would believe it was his own. [VERB noun]
Phrasal verbs:
plant out
phrasal verb [Also VERB noun PARTICLE]
When you plant out young plants, you plant them in the ground in the place where they are to be left to grow.
Plant out the spring cabbage whenever opportunities arise. [VERB PARTICLE noun]
Image of plant
© Igor Kovalchuk, Shutterstock
Quotations:
What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not been discoveredFortune of the Republic
Just now the lilac is in bloom,
All before my little roomGrantchester
All before my little roomGrantchester
Collocations:
acres planted with hardy plant plant a seedling plant a tree plant produces plant species plant stem plant thrives plant tissue plant variety plant waste plants and shrubs poisonous plant potted plant printing plant production plant rare plant refinery plant sewage plant solar plant steel plant treatment plant tropical plant wild plant woody plant
It has 1.38 million acres planted with cotton, compared to 11,816 acres of peach orchards.
Smithsonian Mag
Less than half the number of acres planted with tomatoes in the early 1990s were planted in 1997.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
During the period of 1900-05, there were 10,500,000 acres planted, with a decline to 8,862,000 acres in 1925-30.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Lavender and rosemary are good, hardy plants.
The Sun (2015)
Most hardy fruit plants need a period of cold weather during the winter to encourage flowering.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Plant this hardy plant in full sun.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Come spring you will be able to return to the forest and plant your seedling.
Times, Sunday Times
Don't plant your seedling too close to the house or any solid wall or fence that will heat up excessively on sunny winter days.
Globe and Mail
I plant the seedlings straight into the ground from the pots without trying to disentangle one from the other.
Times, Sunday Times
Plant the seedlings outside in the early spring when they are 3in-4in in height.
Times, Sunday Times
Alternatively, sow the pea seeds in pots under cover, then plant the seedlings outside under the netting.
Times, Sunday Times
The big-hearted club pledged to plant a tree for every shirt sold.
The Sun
I would certainly plant your tree in the ground and let it get on with it.
Times, Sunday Times
Plant a tree online and a wealthy corporation will plant a real one somewhere where it's needed.
Times, Sunday Times
As an incentive, the bank will plant a tree in its virtual forest.
Times, Sunday Times
In fact, we plant a tree for every ticket we sell online.
Times, Sunday Times
While a plant produces sugars and oxygen, the synthetic 'leaf' produces oxygen and ethylene, a substance in high demand in industry.
Times, Sunday Times
One ragweed plant produces a billion grains of pollen in a season.
Times, Sunday Times
The plant produces components for computer hard disk drives.
Times, Sunday Times
And each flowered plant produces a tuber that can be dried off and grown on to flower even better in subsequent years.
The Sun
Every year, the plant produces one stem with blooms that have petals of different colours, sometimes in a 50:50 split across the flower.
The Sun
Most hamsters in a cornfield will never encounter another plant species.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
In our towns and countryside, they support all kinds of wildlife and plant species that would otherwise have nowhere to live.
The Sun
Insects, butterflies, voles and woodland birds feed on their plant species, while predators such as bats, owls and stoats rely on them for refuge.
The Sun
Officials say the restaurants are eroding the dunes and damaging plant species in breach of laws designed to protect coastal regions.
Times, Sunday Times
The study also found that the traditional method of preserving threatened plant species by collecting specimens and transferring them to botanical gardens could be counterproductive.
Times, Sunday Times
The right products can have skin-boosting superpowers, thanks to plant stem cells' ability to renew and repair themselves.
The Sun
Two spiders come to blows on a plant stem in our back garden.
Times, Sunday Times
Hydrating moisturisers smooth, while lilac plant stem cells contain an antioxidant that heals and protect skin.
The Sun
The moistureholding molecules keep skin refreshed while the plant stem cells provide a natural and visible lift.
Times, Sunday Times
In this manner, drivers can earn additional leaves on a plant stem when practicing fuel saving strategies.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
This wonderfully fragrant plant thrives in well-drained, acid-to-neutral soil and prefers a sheltered sunny or partially shaded position.
The Sun
For gardens with little sun, this plant thrives in partial shade.
Times, Sunday Times
Ideal for both full sun and partial shade, this plant thrives in moist, heavier soils.
The Sun
The plant thrives under irrigation or in areas with 200-500 millimeters (8-20 inches) of annual precipitation.
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Because of the rich soils in the area, this plant thrives and most of the residents benefit from its sale.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
He also returned to photography, developing close-up camera techniques that allowed him to trace changes in plant tissue growth.
Times, Sunday Times
By using water and sieve flotation techniques, the team discovered pieces of plant tissue among the charcoal.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The main crux of her research, however, was the changes that plant tissue underwent during the carbonization process in which plant matter becomes coal.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Sporulation from the leaf lesions spreads the conidia to healthy plant tissue.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Some species of aphid interact with plant tissues forming a gall, an abnormal swelling of plant tissue.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Typically, plant variety rights are granted by national offices, after examination.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
It was granted plant variety rights in 1993 and was certified in 1994.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
None of these three varieties are under plant variety protection.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
These symptoms vary depending on the plant variety and age at the time of infection.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
But to get the best of those colours you have to plant varieties known to lean that way, as specified on their labels.
Times, Sunday Times
There's not much future in plant hire, but plenty in anaerobically digesting plant waste.
Times, Sunday Times
Tip out your plant waste from the compost bin, shaking it about to let in air and moisten the dry bits.
The Sun
For green energy technologies, such as biofuels made from plant waste, high prices are critical.
Times, Sunday Times
The larva also eat leaves and other plant waste.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The seeds can also be transported in soil and plant waste.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
There's a summer terrace and the well-tended gardens are bursting with plants and shrubs.
Times,Sunday Times
The walled garden where the bloodstained body was found was transformed recently into a wildlife garden with seating, mosaics and new plants and shrubs.
Times, Sunday Times
Plants and shrubs in between these will keep it cool in summer and warm in winter.
Times, Sunday Times
Wild plants and shrubs spring from the barren land in the spring and afford pasturage, but the summer sun burns them away.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
About 150,000 trees, plants and shrubs were planted alongside the track for aesthetic, environmental and noise-reduction purposes; planting was completed in 1997.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Although birds eat the berries, mistletoe is a poisonous plant, and makes dogs sick as well as humans.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
A post-mortem examination discovered traces of a chemical that can be found in a poisonous plant.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The list of potentially poisonous plants is long, but we rarely see problems involving intoxication.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The researchers also extracted audio signals from the leaves of a potted plant, aluminium foil and the surface of a glass of water.
Times, Sunday Times
She turns on a digital background and suddenly she appears to be in a sunny, minimalist office, a potted plant on the desk behind her.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
You have a large potted plant in a good-sized pot.
Globe and Mail
A potted plant, a pillow; their imagination seems to run wild.
Globe and Mail
Feign a coughing fit and stagger to the side of the room to spit your awful mouthful surreptitiously into a potted plant.
Times, Sunday Times
Its only fabric printing plant was flooded.
Times, Sunday Times
A forklift operator from the book's printing plant was arrested two days later.
Globe and Mail
The printing plant of one of them had not been destroyed by the war.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
On the next day secret service officers seized 100,000 more copies at the printing plant and blocked further printing.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Some of the inverts are quite common, the employees at the printing plant presumably also having difficulties knowing which way was up.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
A new low-carbon chemicals production plant could also be built to run on hydrogen.
Times,Sunday Times
Another 35 million has been earmarked for a new high-tech medicine production plant.
Times, Sunday Times
The company admits it's been a slog getting there: it has faced significant hurdles, including raising enough investment for the venture and finding a suitable location for its production plant.
Times, Sunday Times
In the end, however, it was not in his makeshift production plant but at the dinner table that he found his solution.
Times, Sunday Times
I say 'production plant' but it was probably more of a draughty lock-up, because it managed to build only one a week.
Times, Sunday Times
Grazing and trampling by livestock such as goats are still some of the main threats listed for the rare plant.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
She soon had a group of correspondents, with whom she swapped ideas and rare plant material.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Although never common, this rare plant has vanished from much of its historical range due to habitat loss.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Some rare plant species are also found in the park.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Livestock grazing injures the leaves of the rare plant, reducing its reproductive potential.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
That dispute has led to open-ended industrial action at the neighbouring refinery plant, beginning at midnight tomorrow.
Times, Sunday Times
There was reason for that: a big oil refinery plant was to be set up.
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It was established in 1956, and construction of the oil refinery plant started in 1957.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
In desperation, the estate's residents are clubbing together to raise the €500 needed to unblock the sewage plant.
Times, Sunday Times
One of her works, a rearing wave, cast in bronze and glazed in running water, was recently found beside an old sewage plant.
Times, Sunday Times
It will have its own power station, hospitals, roads, railway station, schools and sewage plant.
Times, Sunday Times
It ranks 140th in a list of dream lines of work, behind even tax collector and sewage plant operative, a study has found.
The Sun
But furious water bosses insisted the move meant vital mains replacement and sewage plant work would have to be shelved.
The Sun
The $3.6 billion thermo solar plant will be the largest plant of its kind in the world.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Set in parkland, the site will include solar plants.
Times, Sunday Times
Taxpayers are indirectly subsidising the construction of a new generation of onshore wind farms and solar plants through a little-known tax break.
Times, Sunday Times
Other cash-strapped countries are expected to save money by reducing so-called feed-in tariffs, which guarantee the wholesale price of electricity produced by solar plants to encourage development of the industry.
Times, Sunday Times
This has resulted in the construction of many solar plants.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
He even went back to work sweeping floors in a steel plant, leaning on a walking stick and a brush.
The Sun
A steel plant or car factory would stop production to reduce demand.
The Sun
He lost his last position as a clerk when a steel plant shut in 1983.
The Sun
But who wants a steel plant losing 300 million a year when there's a worldwide glut of the stuff?
Times, Sunday Times
They point to her record on cleaning up the gas industry, where she made a fortune in the 1990s, and re-privatising a massive steel plant last year.
Times, Sunday Times
A treatment plant breaks down sewage into relatively clean water, which flows into a soakaway.
Times,Sunday Times
It even has a dedicated wastewater treatment plant, a car wash and petrol pumps.
Times, Sunday Times
This means if they find something, it’s already essentially inside the water treatment plant.
Smithsonian Mag
But a water treatment plant was overwhelmed and more than 350,000 people were left without fresh water for more than two weeks.
Times, Sunday Times
Damage to a water treatment plant that was swamped with floodwater was worse than initially feared.
Times, Sunday Times
The entrance was through a small glass door that led into a slightly dingy room with a tropical plant.
Times, Sunday Times
He wants the huge tropical plant area beside a steam room.
The Sun
The tropical plant in her en suite bathroom twinkles with icicles and snowflakes.
Globe and Mail
This carefully controlled tropical environment houses as many as 80 butterfly species and 150 tropical plant species.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
The rich dipterocarp forest also harbor numerous tropical plant species including the threatened species of pitcher plants and rafflesia as well as endemic banana varieties.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Intensive farming methods also reduce the number of wild plants, which provide food for birds and insects.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Along with the wild plants comes a lively population of butterflies, insects and birds.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The course teaches you to look for seasonal wild plants and how to cook them.
The Sun (2012)
And it is also the best time of the year to plant most perennials and woody plants.
The Sun (2012)
His garden is full of unusual woody plants.
A Patchwork Garden: Unexpected Pleasures from a Country Garden (1990)
Most woody plants like to become established above and below ground before they flower.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Translations:
Chinese: 工厂, 植物, 种植
Japanese: 製造工場 site/equipment, 植物 vegetable organism, 植える
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