noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈsʌb.plɒt/
General-American:/ˈsʌb.plɑt/
rhymes with -ɒt
CMU ARPABET:S AH1 B P L AA0 T
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A plot within a story, subsidiary to the main plot.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1978, R.B. Lee & R. Misiorowski, Script Models: A Handbook for the Media Writer, Subplot, a story line enclosed within the principal story to provide relief from the main plot's tension, add character dimension, etc.
2001, Nancy Arbuthnot Johnson, Vic Neufield, Forging Links for Health Research, But this story has a subplot — a subplot about fairness and how people have divergent levels of access to knowledge and resources.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A subdivision of a plot of land, especially one used for an agricultural experiment.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1999, E. K. Sadanandan Nambiar, Christian Cossalter, Site Management and Productivity in Tropical Plantation Forest, There are 72 trees in each plot (6x12) and 36 trees in each subplot.
2002, M. Boya Edwards, Proceedings for the Eight Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference, Hardwood and shrub stems (besides gallberry) were counted by species and measured for total height (if greater than 2 ft) on 3 strip plots per subplot that were 0.01 acre [...]
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To provide (a story) with a subplot.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From sub- + plot.
Across languages
Translations
7 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Hungarian:
mellékcselekmény
— a subsidiary plot within a story
Irish:
fo-phlota
— a subsidiary plot within a story
Polish:
wątek
— a subsidiary plot within a story
Spanish:
trama secundaria
— a subsidiary plot within a story
Spanish:
argumento secundario
— a subsidiary plot within a story
Spanish:
intriga secundaria
— a subsidiary plot within a story
Swedish:
subplot
— a subsidiary plot within a story
