scheme

1. 1

   An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words.obsoleterhetoric

2. 2

   A representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies for any moment or at a given event.

   • a blue case, from which was drawn a scheme of nativity
3. 3

   A systematic plan of future action.

   • The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.
   • Originally the opening had doubtless marked the projection of another road, but the scheme had come to nothing.
4. 4

   A plot or secret, devious plan.

   • Her brain is continually fermenting new schemes.
5. 5

   An orderly combination of related parts.

   • the appearance and outward scheme of things
   • such a scheme of things as shall at once take in time and eternity
6. 6

   A chart or diagram of a system or object.

   • April 29, 1694, Robert South, A Sermon Preached at Westminster Abbey to draw an exact scheme of Constantinople, or a map of France
7. 7

   A mathematical structure that generalizes the notion of an algebraic variety in several ways, such as taking account of multiplicities and allowing "varieties" defined over any commutative ring. Formally, a locally ringed space that admits a covering by open sets, each of which is isomorphic to an a

8. 8

   A council housing estate.ScotlandUKcolloquial

   • It was all too dear. They all just put their prices up because it was out in the scheme.
   • “You can’t really say to the kids in the schemes [Scottish council estates]^([sic]): don’t do drugs, they’ll wreck your life, you’ll never get a job or a house or buy nice things.”
9. 9

   Part of a uniform resource identifier indicating the protocol or other purpose, such as http: or news:.Internet

10. 10

    A portfolio of pension plans with related benefits comprising multiple independent members.UK

1. 1

   To plot, or contrive a plan; to maneuver.intransitive

   • 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.
2. 2

   To plan; to contrive; to maneuver.transitive

   • He schemed a plot. He made use of the hotel's stationery to write a letter.

syn. hatch · intrigue