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scheme - What does it mean?

Definition of 'scheme'

English

(wikipedia)

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A systematic plan of future action.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.
  • * {{quote-magazine|title=Ideas coming down the track|date=2013-06-01|volume=407|issue=8838
    • |page=13 (Technology Quarterly)|magazine=(The Economist) citation |passage=A “moving platform” scheme
  • A plot or secret, devious plan.
  • An orderly combination of related parts.
  • * John Locke
    • the appearance and outward scheme of things
  • * Atterbury
    • such a scheme of things as shall at once take in time and eternity
  • * J. Edwards
    • arguments sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy
  • * Macaulay
    • The Revolution came and changed his whole scheme of life.
  • A chart or diagram of a system or object.
  • * South
    • to draw an exact scheme of Constantinople, or a map of France
  • (mathematics) A type of topological space.
  • (UK|chiefly|Scotland) A council housing estate.
  • * 2008 , (James Kelman), Kieron Smith, Boy , Penguin 2009, p. 101:
    • It was all too dear. They all just put their prices up because it was out in the scheme .
  • (rhetoric) An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words.
  • (astrology) A representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies for any moment or at a given event.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • a blue case, from which was drawn a scheme of nativity
  • Part of a uniform resource identifier indicating the protocol or other purpose, such as http: or news:.

    • Usage notes

    In the US, generally has devious connotations, while in the UK, frequently used as a neutral term for projects: “The road is closed due to a pavement-widening scheme.”

    Synonyms

    * (a systematic plan of future action) blueprint

    Verb

    (schem)
  • To plot, or contrive a plan.
  • * {{quote-news
    • |year=2012 |date=April 26 |author=Tasha Robinson |title=Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits : |work=The Onion AV Club citation |page= |passage=The openly ridiculous plot has The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) scheming to win the Pirate Of The Year competition, even though he’s a terrible pirate, far outclassed by rivals voiced by Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek. }}

    References

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    Similar to 'scheme'

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