plant

noun, verb

living thing 1 [C] a living thing that grows in the earth and usually has a stem, leaves and roots, especially one that is smaller than a tree or bush: All plants need light and water. * flowering / garden / indoor plants * a tomato / potato plant * the animal and plant life of the area seealsoBEDDINGPLANT, HOUSEPLANT, POTPLANT, RUBBERPLANT factory 2 [C] a factory or place where power is produced or an industrial process takes place: a nuclear reprocessing plant * Japanese car plants * a chemical / manufacturing plant seealsoSEWAGEPLANT machinery 3 [U] the large machinery that is used in industrial processes: The company has been investing in new plant and equipment. sth illegal 4 [C,usually sing.] (informal) something that sb has deliberately placed among another person's clothes or possessions in order to make them appear guilty of a crime: He claimed that the drugs found in his house were a plant. person 5 [C] a person who joins a group of criminals or enemies in order to get and secretly report information about their activities verb [VN] seeds / plants 1 to put plants, seeds, etc. in the ground to grow: to plant and harvest rice * Plant these shrubs in full sun. 2 ~ sth (with sth) to cover or supply a garden/yard, area of land, etc. with plants: a densely planted orange grove * The field had been ploughed and planted with corn. put in position 3 [+adv./prep.] to place sth or yourself firmly in a particular place or position: They planted a flag on the summit. * He planted himself squarely in front of us. * Demonstrators planted themselves right in front of the convoy of trucks. bomb 4 to hide sth such as a bomb in a place where it will not be found sth illegal 5 ~ sth (on sb) to hide sth, especially sth illegal, in sb's clothing, possessions etc. so that when it is found it will look as though they committed a crime: He claims that the drugs were planted on him. person 6 ~ sb (in sth) to send sb to join a group, etc., especially in order to make secret reports on its members: The police had planted an informer in the gang. thought / idea 7 ~ sth (in sth) to make sb think or believe sth, especially without them realizing that you gave them the idea: He planted the first seeds of doubt in my mind. PHRASALVERBS plant sth<->out to put plants in the ground so that they have enough room to grow: Plant the seedlings out at 20cm intervals.