build, a house on. M 7 — ft Jft itfe HM ft ₀ 0 a vegetable pZot -^11 o note at land ITSTTCl .lose the 'plot (BrE, informal) to lose your ability to understand or deal with what is happening M ; ft £0 If the plot 'thickens used to say that a situation is becoming more complicated and difficult to understand 1W H

• verb (-tt-) 1 r (with sb) (against sb) to make a secret plan to harm sb, especially a government or its leader Bit ft #1 HI3 conspire: [V] They were accused of plotting against the state. {tk{H ® , o [VN]

Military officers were suspected of plotting a coup. All!

o [V to inf] They were plotting to overthrow the government. {Ml ^ iS US W.2 [VN] ~ sth (on sth) to mark sth on a map, for example the position or course of sth ( £ fife HI ± ) 0 ftj, If ft: The earthquake centres had been plotted on a world map. Mfe 3 [vn] ~ sth (on sth)

to make a diagram or chart from some information $!] ( HI % ) : We carefully plotted each patient's response to the drug on a chart. Scill {7£ffl££ft 7 ^&J!&#lHlilo 4 [VN] ~ sth (on sth) to mark points on a graph and draw a line or curve connecting them ( ft ) : First, plot the temperature curve on the graph, f 5fc, £S^A^ftMJt5 [VN] to write the plot of a novel, play, etc. ( Aftift, ) i&iflf

ft; Tp jl): a tightly-plotted thriller if ft M M A ft] I# ® P&

plotter /’plDtaft); NAmE ’plaitar/ noun 1 a person who makes a secret plan to harm sb Pfi ^ $J #

pm conspirator 2 a device that turns data from a computer into a graph, usually on paper ( if^lL ) ^

mix,

plough (BrE) (NAmE plow) /plau/ noun, verb m noun 1 [C] a large piece of farming equipment with one or several curved blades, pulled by a tractor or by animals. It is used for digging and turning over soil, especially before seeds are planted. 2jfe —see also snowplough n. 2 the Plough (BrE) (NAmE the ,Big Dipper) [sing.] a group of seven bright stars that can only be seen from the northern half of the world A ft AM; A fig M & CT under the ’ plough (BrE, formal) (of land ± i&) used for growing crops, not for keeping animals on Bud arable

■ verb to dig and turn over a field or other area of land with a plough ( ffl ’)' ; ) ; fg ( ± ) : [VN]

ploughed fields f ii W ffl 1 [also V] ITSTTil .plough a lonely, your own, etc., ‘furrow (literary) to do things that other people do not do, or be interested in things that other people are not interested in g ( tt g

) IdSkM plough sth— back (in/into sth | .plough sth—back 'in 1 to turn over growing crops, grass, etc. with a plough and mix them into the soil to improve its quality Jg; 2 to put

money made as profit back into a business in order to improve it fE ( fij ® ^ : The money was all

ploughed back into the company. ft-&^]₀ plough into sb/sth (especially of a vehicle or its driver A tt H ft tt #1) to crash violently into sth especially because you are driving too fast or not paying enough attention S®; ( Xtt ) lift: A truck

ploughed into the back of the bus. --{$ftft®}f l!j 7 (ft M ntf ₀ plough sth ‘into sth to invest a large amount of money in a company or project ®

^ ® A; f: The government has ploughed

more than $20 billion into building new schools. Ij&gf G fflfr 200 .plough 'on (with sth) to

continue doing sth that is difficult or boring M W jift, it ^ S 7r ( ^ ft] V ) ; ft It : No one was

listening to her, but she ploughed on regardless. ATT A ftn/fftfeiftift {fifcfeftft*JPS£, nMftfto .plough (your way) 'through sth 1 to force a way through sth H£(jitfeft|g(^]IM): She ploughed her way through the waiting crowds. M M # ii 67 A # ft ftf & A ₀ 2 (of a vehicle or an aircraft ft ® ft #1) to go violently through sth, out of control Siftil; The

plane ploughed through the trees. ftfjlfiftMfttlft 3 to make slow progress through sth difficult or boring especially a book, a report, etc.

| 1521

& ( Al£«4ft llp| ) ; ilAftft: / had to plough through dozens of legal documents . tt'Htt.il ftI$t^ + .plough sth—‘up 1 to turn over a

field or other area of land with a plough to change it from grass, for example, to land for growing crops ( ft ) ftS; ftitfe 2 to break up the surface of the ground by walking or driving across it again and again $Lf®, M: ( life ffi ) : The paths get all ploughed up by

motorbikes. ft |b] /Mi&^itJ^ftft£oftU7 7 ₀ plough man (BrE) (NAmE plow-man) /'plauman/ noun (pi. -men /-man/) a man whose job is guiding a plough, especially one pulled by animals ftc ( ft fti II ft ftz )

ploughman's lunch (also ploughman’s) noun (BrE) a cold meal of bread, cheese, pickle and salad, often served in pubs (&{SB'S, #3

tt,

plough-share (BrE) (NAmE plow-share) /’plaujeeft); NAmE -Jer/ (NAmE also share) noun the broad curved blade of a plough 2jfe#; IT»T71 see sword plover /’plAV8(r)/ noun a bird with long legs and a short tail that lives on wet ground ft-S,; 7? plow, plow-man, plow-share (NAmE) = plough,

PLOUGHMAN, PLOUGHSHARE

ploy /ploi/ noun ~ (to do sth) words or actions that are carefully planned to get an advantage over sb else ifilt; ft A; fett Pm manoeuvre a clever

marketing ploy #1H? ^ M Bg- o It was all a ploy to distract attention from his real aims. Wft fkW BS A, ft

pluck /plAk/ verb, noun m verb

► HAIR 1 [VN] - sth (out) to pull out hairs with your

fingers or with tweezers ®; tt: She plucked out a grey hair. t&tttt-T ~ ° o expertly plucked

eyebrows ttWffiFjM€

► CHICKEN, ETC. xftft 2 [VN] to pull the feathers off a dead

bird, for example a chicken, in order to prepare it for cooking®®, ilft ( )

► MUSICAL INSTRUMENT 3 (NAmE also pick) to play a

musical instrument, especially a guitar, by pulling the strings with your fingers ( ftfl&ftik ) : [VN] to

pluck the strings of a violin 0 [V] He took

the guitar and plucked at the strings. {ik®^J®

► REMOVE SB/STH S ft Kf % 4 [VN] ~ sb (from sth) to remove sb from a place or situation, especially one that is unpleasant or dangerous $?!!(; jg®: Police plucked a drowning girl from the river yesterday. ftAWA/AM S # ® 7 ~ ft ft ft o o Survivors of the wreck were plucked to safety by a helicopter.

0 She was plucked from obscurity to instant

stardom,

5 [VN] ~ sth (from sth) to take hold of sth and remove it by pulling it He plucked the wallet from the man’s

grasp.

► FRUIT/FLOWER ft ; ft 6 [VN] ~ sth (from sth) (old- fashioned or literary) to pick a fruit, flower, etc. from where it is growing ®I plucked an orange from the tree. $AW±®7-ft{§7o

fPTTTl pluck sth out of the 'air to say a name, number, etc. without thinking about it, especially in answer to a question fl&nMtft; I just plucked a figure

out of the air and said: ‘Would £1 000 seem reasonable to you?’niift—ft$ftf£])t_: “im looo^uftii HA? ” pluck up (the) courage (to do sth) to make yourself do sth even though you are afraid to do it I finally plucked up the courage

to ask her for a date.

QUID ‘pluck at sth to hold sth with the fingers and pull it gently, especially more than once ®®; tt', ® Pm tug : The child kept plucking at his mother’s sleeve. 0 (figurative) The

wind plucked at my jacket.

• noun [U] (informal) courage and determination JjMiR; IS M; MM: It takes a lot of pluck to do what she did.