plants

Meanings

1. 1nounpluralbiology

   Living things such as trees, flowers, grasses and vegetables that grow in soil or water, make their own food from light and usually stay in one place.

   Grammar: Plural of plant, usually with no article for plants in general: Plants need light.

   Patterns

   • plants need something
   • plants grow in something

   Plants need water, light and air to grow.

   We keep several plants on the kitchen windowsill.

   Some plants can survive in the desert for months without rain.

2. 2nounplural

   Factories or large industrial sites where goods are made or energy is produced.

   Grammar: Plural of plant in this sense; usually with a describing word: power plants.

   Patterns

   • a plant that makes something

   The company runs three car plants in the region.

   Nuclear plants supply much of the country's electricity.

   Several chemical plants closed after the new rules came in.

3. 3verbtransitive

   Puts seeds, young plants or bulbs into the ground so that they will grow.

   Grammar: Third-person singular of plant; takes an object: she plants roses.

   Patterns

   • plants something in something

   My neighbor plants tomatoes every May.

   She plants bulbs in the autumn so they bloom in spring.

   The farmer plants several rows of corn along the fence.

Word forms

Common combinations

water the plants

Please water the plants while I am away.

house plants

House plants brighten up a small room.

power plants

Power plants burn fuel or use other energy to make electricity.

grow plants

They grow plants from seed in the greenhouse.

edible plants

Some wild plants are edible, but others are poisonous.

Synonyms and how they differ

greenery

Greenery is an uncountable word for leaves and green growth in general, whereas plants names individual living things.

vegetation

Vegetation refers to all the plant life of an area as a mass, while plants can be counted one by one.

factories

Factories means the same as the industrial sense of plants, but plants is more typical for power, water and chemical works.

flora

Flora is a scientific word for all the plants of a region, so it sounds more technical than plants.

Opposites

Word family

plant noun

singular of plants

planter noun

a container for plants, or a person who plants crops

planting noun

the act of putting seeds or young plants into the ground

transplant verb

to move a plant to another place

plantation noun

a large farm growing crops such as tea or rubber

Commonly confused: plants or plans?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “plants”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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