Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PLOD'DER, n.

A dull, heavy, laborious person. – Shak.

PLOD'DING, n.

Slow movement or study with steadiness or persevering industry. – Prideaux.

PLOD'DING, ppr.

1. Traveling or laboring with slow movement and steady diligence; studying closely but heavily.
2. adj. Industrious; diligent, but slow in contrivance or execution.

PLOD'DING-LY, adv.

Industriously; diligently.

PLOT, n.¹ [a different orthography of Plat.]

1. A plat or small extent of ground; as, a garden plot. – Locke. It was a chosen plot of fertile land. – Spenser. When we mean to build, / We first survey the plot. – Sidney.
2. A plantation laid out. – Sidney.
3. A plan or scheme. [Qu. the next word.] – Spenser.
4. In surveying, a plan or draught of a field, farm or manor surveyed and delineated on paper.

PLOT, n.² [The French retain this word in the compounds complot, comploter; Arm. complod, complodi. It may be from the root of plait, to weave, Russ. pletu; whence opletayu, to plait, to twist, to deceive; oplot, a hedge. See Plait.]

1. Any scheme, stratagem or plan of a complicated nature, or consisting of many parts, adapted to the accomplishment of some purpose, usually a mischievous one. A plot may be formed by a single person or by numbers. In the latter case, it is a conspiracy or an intrigue. The latter word more generally denotes a scheme directed against individuals; the former against the government. But this distinction is not always observed. O think what anxious moments pass between / The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods! – Addison.
2. In dramatic writings, the knot or intrigue; the story of a play, comprising a complication of incidents which are at last unfolded by unexpected means. If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, the winding up of the plat must be a probable consequence of all that went before. – Pope.
3. Contrivance; deep reach of thought; ability to plot. A man of much plot. – Denham.

PLOT, v.i.

1. To form a scheme of mischief against another, or against a government or those who administer it. A traitor plots against his king. The wicked plotteth against the just. – Ps. xxxvii.
2. To contrive a plan; to scheme. The prince did plot to be secretly gone. – Wotton.

PLOT, v.t.¹

To make a plan of; to delineate. Carew.

PLOT, v.t.²

To plan; to devise; to contrive; as, to plot an unprofitable crime. – Dryden.

PLOT'FUL, a.

Abounding with plots.

PLOT'TED, pp.

Contrived; planned.

PLOT'TER, n.

1. One that plots or contrives; a contriver. – Shak.
2. A conspirator. – Dryden.

PLOT'TING, ppr.

Contriving; planning; forming an evil design.

PLOUGH, n. [or v. t. See PLOW.]

PLOV'ER, n. [Fr. pluvier, the water bird, from L. pluvialis, rainy; pluo, to rain.]

The common name of several species of birds that frequent the banks of rivers and the sea shore, belonging to the genus Charadrius. The lapwing. – Encyc.

PLOW, n. [Norm. ploge; Sax. ploge; D. ploeg; G. pflug Dan. ploug, plov; Ice. plog; Sw. id.; Russ. plug; Polish, plug; Scot. pleuch, pleugh. It corresponds in elements with plug, and both perhaps from thrusting.]

1. In agriculture, an instrument for turning up, breaking and preparing the ground for receiving the seed. It is drawn by oxen or horses, and saves the labor of digging; it is therefore the most useful instrument in agriculture. The emperor lays hold of the plow and turns up several furrows. – Grosier, Trans. Where fern succeeds, ungrateful to the plow. – Dryden.
2. Figuratively, tillage; culture of the earth; agriculture.
3. A joiner's instrument for grooving.

PLOW, v.t.

1. To trench and turn up with a plow; as, to plow the ground for wheat; to plow it into ridges.
2. To furrow; to divide; to run through in sailing. With speed we plow the watery wave. – Pope.
3. To tear; to furrow. – Shak.
4. In Scripture, to labor in any calling. He that ploweth should plow in hope. – 1 Cor. ix. To plow on the back, to scourge; to mangle, or to persecute and torment. – Ps. cxxix. To plow with one's heifer, to deal with the wife to obtain something from the husband. Judges xiv. To plow iniquity or wickedness, and reap it, to devise and practice it, and at last suffer the punishment of it. – Job xiv. Hos. x. To plow in, to cover by plowing; as, to plow in wheat. To plow up or out, to turn out of the ground by plowing. To put one's hand to the plow and look back, is to enter on the service of Christ and afterward abandon it. – Luke ix. [The difference of orthography often made between the noun and verb is wholly unwarrantable, and contrary to settled analogy in our language. Such a difference is never made in changing into verbs, plot, harrow, notice, question, and most other words. See Practice.]

PLOW'A-BLE, a.

That may be plowed; arable.

PLOW'-ALMS, n.

A penny formerly paid by every plowland to the church. – Cowel.

PLOW'-BOTE, n.

In English law, wood or timber allowed to a tenant for the repair of instruments of husbandry.

PLOW'BOY, n.

A boy that drives or guides a team in plowing; a rustic boy. – Watts.

PLOW'ED, pp.

Turned up with a plow; furrowed.

PLOW'ER, n.

One that plows land; a cultivator. – Spenser.

PLOW'ING, n.

The operation of turning up ground with a plow; as, the first and second plowings; three plowings.

PLOW'ING, ppr.

Turning up with a plow; furrowing.