Plant vs. Spy

(botany) An organism that is not an animal, especially an organism capable of photosynthesis. Typically a small or herbaceous organism of this kind, rather than a tree.

Example: ‘The garden had a couple of trees, and a cluster of colourful plants around the border.’;

(botany) An organism of the kingdom Plantae; now specifically, a living organism of the Embryophyta (land plants) or of the Chlorophyta (green algae), a eukaryote that includes double-membraned chloroplasts in its cells containing chlorophyll a and b, or any organism closely related to such an organism.

(ecology) Now specifically, a multicellular eukaryote that includes chloroplasts in its cells, which have a cell wall.

Any creature that grows on soil or similar surfaces, including plants and fungi.

A factory or other industrial or institutional building or facility.

An object placed surreptitiously in order to cause suspicion to fall upon a person.

Example: ‘That gun's not mine! It's a plant! I've never seen it before!’;

Anyone assigned to behave as a member of the public during a covert operation (as in a police investigation).

A person, placed amongst an audience, whose role is to cause confusion, laughter etc.

(snooker) A play in which the cue ball knocks one (usually red) ball onto another, in order to pot the second; a set.

(uncountable) Machinery, such as the kind used in earthmoving or construction.

(obsolete) A young tree; a sapling; hence, a stick or staff.

(obsolete) The sole of the foot.

A plan; a swindle; a trick.

An oyster which has been bedded, in distinction from one of natural growth.

A young oyster suitable for transplanting.

(transitive) To place (a seed or plant) in soil or other substrate in order that it may live and grow.

(transitive) To place (an object, or sometimes a person), often with the implication of intending deceit.

Example: ‘That gun's not mine! It was planted there by the real murderer!’;

(transitive) To place or set something firmly or with conviction.

Example: ‘Plant your feet firmly and give the rope a good tug.’; ‘to plant cannon against a fort; to plant a flag; to plant one's feet on solid ground’;

To place in the ground.

To furnish or supply with plants.

Example: ‘to plant a garden, an orchard, or a forest’;

To engender; to generate; to set the germ of.

To furnish with a fixed and organized population; to settle; to establish.

Example: ‘to plant a colony’;

To introduce and establish the principles or seeds of.

Example: ‘to plant Christianity among the heathen’;

To set up; to install; to instate.

A vegetable; an organized living being, generally without feeling and voluntary motion, and having, when complete, a root, stem, and leaves, though consisting sometimes only of a single leafy expansion, or a series of cellules, or even a single cellule.

A bush, or young tree; a sapling; hence, a stick or staff.

The sole of the foot.

The whole machinery and apparatus employed in carrying on a trade or mechanical business; also, sometimes including real estate, and whatever represents investment of capital in the means of carrying on a business, but not including material worked upon or finished products; as, the plant of a foundry, a mill, or a railroad.

A plan; an artifice; a swindle; a trick.

Example: ‘It was n't a bad plant, that of mine, on Fikey.’;

An oyster which has been bedded, in distinction from one of natural growth.

To put in the ground and cover, as seed for growth; as, to plant maize.

To set in the ground for growth, as a young tree, or a vegetable with roots.

Example: ‘Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees.’;

To furnish, or fit out, with plants; as, to plant a garden, an orchard, or a forest.

To engender; to generate; to set the germ of.

Example: ‘It engenders choler, planteth anger.’;

To furnish with a fixed and organized population; to settle; to establish; as, to plant a colony.

Example: ‘Planting of countries like planting of woods.’;

To introduce and establish the principles or seeds of; as, to plant Christianity among the heathen.

To set firmly; to fix; to set and direct, or point; as, to plant cannon against a fort; to plant a standard in any place; to plant one's feet on solid ground; to plant one's fist in another's face.

To set up; to install; to instate.

Example: ‘We will plant some other in the throne.’;

To perform the act of planting.

Example: ‘I have planted; Apollos watered.’;

buildings for carrying on industrial labor;

Example: ‘they built a large plant to manufacture automobiles’;

a living organism lacking the power of locomotion

something planted secretly for discovery by another;

Example: ‘the police used a plant to trick the thieves’; ‘he claimed that the evidence against him was a plant’;

an actor situated in the audience whose acting is rehearsed but seems spontaneous to the audience

put or set (seeds or seedlings) into the ground;

Example: ‘Let's plant flowers in the garden’;

fix or set securely or deeply;

Example: ‘He planted a knee in the back of his opponent’; ‘The dentist implanted a tooth in the gum’;

set up or lay the groundwork for;

Example: ‘establish a new department’;

place into a river;

Example: ‘plant fish’;

place something or someone in a certain position in order to secretly observe or deceive;

Example: ‘Plant a spy in Moscow’; ‘plant bugs in the dissident's apartment’;

put firmly in the mind;

Example: ‘Plant a thought in the students' minds’;

a living organism of the kind exemplified by trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses, ferns, and mosses, typically growing in a permanent site, absorbing water and inorganic substances through its roots, and synthesizing nutrients in its leaves by photosynthesis using the green pigment chlorophyll.

a small plant, as distinct from a shrub or tree

Example: ‘garden plants’;

a place where an industrial or manufacturing process takes place

Example: ‘a giant car plant’;

machinery used in an industrial or manufacturing process

Example: ‘inadequate investment in new plant’;

a person placed in a group as a spy or informer

Example: ‘we thought he was a CIA plant spreading disinformation’;

a thing put among someone's belongings to incriminate or compromise them.

a shot in which the cue ball is made to strike one of two touching or nearly touching balls with the result that the second is potted.

put (a seed, bulb, or plant) in the ground so that it can grow

Example: ‘we planted a lot of fruit trees’;

cover or supply (an area of land) with plants

Example: ‘the garden is planted with herbs’;

place a plant in the ground out of doors so it can grow, especially after growing it from seed in an indoor environment

Example: ‘the foxgloves are grown from seed and planted out in the autumn’;

bury (someone)

Example: ‘it was raining when we planted him’;

set or place in a particular position

Example: ‘she planted a kiss on his cheek’; ‘he planted himself squarely in front of her’;

establish (an idea) in someone's mind

Example: ‘the seed of doubt is planted in his mind’;

secretly place (a bomb that is set to go off at a later time)

Example: ‘several incendiary devices were planted in stores’;

put or hide (something) among someone's belongings to compromise or incriminate the owner

Example: ‘they claimed that the drugs had been planted on them by police’;

send (someone) to join a group or organization to act as a spy or informer

Example: ‘he managed to plant an agent in his war council’;

found or establish (a colony, city, or community)

Example: ‘he was commissioned to plant the order in England’;

deposit (young fish, spawn, oysters, etc.) in a river or lake.

Plants are mainly multicellular organisms, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, plants were treated as one of two kingdoms including all living things that were not animals, and all algae and fungi were treated as plants.

A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).

(intransitive) To act as a spy.

Example: ‘During the Cold War, Russia and America would each spy on each other for recon.’;

(transitive) To spot; to catch sight of.

Example: ‘I think I can spy that hot guy coming over here.’;

(intransitive) To search narrowly; to scrutinize.

(transitive) To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country.

To gain sight of; to discover at a distance, or in a state of concealment; to espy; to see.

Example: ‘One, in reading, skipped over all sentences where he spied a note of admiration.’;

To discover by close search or examination.

Example: ‘Look about with your eyes; spy what things are to be reformed in the church of England.’;

To explore; to view, inspect, and examine secretly, as a country; - usually with out.

Example: ‘Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof.’;

To search narrowly; to scrutinize.

Example: ‘It is my nature's plagueTo spy into abuses.’;

One who keeps a constant watch of the conduct of others.

A person sent secretly into an enemy's camp, territory, or fortifications, to inspect his works, ascertain his strength, movements, or designs, and to communicate such intelligence to the proper officer.

(military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors

a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people;

Example: ‘my spies tell me that you had a good time last night’;

catch sight of

watch, observe, or inquire secretly

secretly collect sensitive or classified information; engage in espionage;

Example: ‘spy for the Russians’;