Definitions for plain
pleɪnplain

Princeton's WordNet(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. plain, field, champaignnoun

   extensive tract of level open land

   "they emerged from the woods onto a vast open plain"; "he longed for the fields of his youth"

2. knit, knit stitch, plain, plain stitchadjective

   a basic knitting stitch

3. apparent, evident, manifest, patent, plain, unmistakableadjective

   clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment

   "the effects of the drought are apparent to anyone who sees the parched fields"; "evident hostility"; "manifest disapproval"; "patent advantages"; "made his meaning plain"; "it is plain that he is no reactionary"; "in plain view"

4. plainadjective

   not elaborate or elaborated; simple

   "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building"

5. plain, unpatternedadjective

   lacking patterns especially in color

6. plain, sheer, unmingled, unmixedadjective

   not mixed with extraneous elements

   "plain water"; "sheer wine"; "not an unmixed blessing"

7. plain, unvarnishedadjective

   free from any effort to soften to disguise

   "the plain and unvarnished truth"; "the unvarnished candor of old people and children"

8. plain, bare, spare, unembellished, unornamentedadjective

   lacking embellishment or ornamentation

   "a plain hair style"; "unembellished white walls"; "functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete"

9. homely, plainverb

   lacking in physical beauty or proportion

   "a homely child"; "several of the buildings were downright homely"; "a plain girl with a freckled face"

10. complain, kick, plain, sound off, quetch, kvetchadverb

    express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness

    "My mother complains all day"; "She has a lot to kick about"

11. obviously, evidently, manifestly, patently, apparently, plainly, plainadverb

    unmistakably (`plain' is often used informally for `plainly')

    "the answer is obviously wrong"; "she was in bed and evidently in great pain"; "he was manifestly too important to leave off the guest list"; "it is all patently nonsense"; "she has apparently been living here for some time"; "I thought he owned the property, but apparently not"; "You are plainly wrong"; "he is plain stubborn"

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Plainverb

   to lament; to bewail; to complain

   Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

2. Plainverb

   to lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss

   Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

3. Plain

   without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See Plane

   Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

4. Plain

   open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair

   Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

5. Plain

   not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear; unmistakable

   Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

6. Plain

   void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious embellishment; not rich; simple

   Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

7. Plain

   not highly cultivated; unsophisticated; free from show or pretension; simple; natural; homely; common

   Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

8. Plain

   free from affectation or disguise; candid; sincere; artless; honest; frank

   Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

9. Plain

   not luxurious; not highly seasoned; simple; as, plain food

   Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

10. Plain

    without beauty; not handsome; homely; as, a plain woman

    Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

11. Plain

    not variegated, dyed, or figured; as, plain muslin

    Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

12. Plain

    not much varied by modulations; as, a plain tune

    Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

13. Plainadverb

    in a plain manner; plainly

    Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

14. Plainadjective

    level land; usually, an open field or a broad stretch of land with an even surface, or a surface little varied by inequalities; as, the plain of Jordan; the American plains, or prairies

    Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

15. Plainadjective

    a field of battle

    Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

16. Plain

    to plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface

    Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

17. Plain

    to make plain or manifest; to explain

    Etymology: [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Plain

   In geography, a plain are fertile regions. They are vast and flat and are very conductive to habitation. For these reasons, the plains of the world have the highest density of population. Some of them have been cradles of famous civilizations. Large rivers and their tributaries that provide enough water for human and animal consumption usually drain plains. Plains occur as lowlands and at the bottoms of valleys but also on plateaus at high elevations. In a valley, a plain is enclosed on two sides but in other cases a plain may be delineated by a complete or partial ring of hills, by mountains or cliffs. Where a geological region contains more than one plain, they may be connected by a pass. Plains may have been formed from flowing lava, deposited by water, ice or wind, or formed by erosion by these agents from hills and mountains. Plains in many areas are important for agriculture because where the soils were deposited as sediments they may be deep and fertile, and the flatness facilitates mechanization of crop production; or because they support grasslands which provide good grazing for livestock.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Plain

   plān, v.t. and v.i. to complain: to lament.—ns. Plain′ant, one who complains: a plaintiff; Plain′ing (Shak.), complaint. [O. Fr. pleigner (Fr. plaindre)—L. plangĕre, to lament.]

2. Plain

   plān, adj. without elevations, even, flat: level, smooth, without obstructions: free from difficulties, easy, simple: without ornament or beauty, homely: artless: sincere: evident, unmistakable: mere: not coloured, figured, or variegated: not highly seasoned, natural, not cooked or dressed: not trumps at cards.—n. an extent of level land: an open field.—adv. clearly: distinctly.—v.t. (obs.) to make plain.—n.pl. Plain′-clothes, clothes worn by an officer when off duty or not in uniform.—ns. Plain′-cook, one able to cook all ordinary dishes; Plain′-deal′er, one who deals or speaks his mind plainly.—adj. Plain′-deal′ing, speaking or acting plainly, candid.—n. candid speaking or acting, sincerity.—adj. Plain′-heart′ed, having a plain or honest heart: sincere.—n. Plain′-heart′edness.—adv. Plain′ly.—ns. Plain′ness; Plain′-song, the music of a recitative-like character and sung in unison, used in the Christian Church of the West from the earliest times, and still in use in all R.C. churches: a simple air without variations: a plain unvarnished statement; Plain′-speak′ing, straight-forwardness or bluntness of speech.—adj. Plain′-spok′en, speaking with plain, rough sincerity.—n.pl. Plain′stanes (Scot.), flagstones, pavement.—n. Plain′work, plain needlework, as distinguished from embroidery.—Plain as a pikestaff, perfectly plain or clear. [Fr.,—L. plānus, plain.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. plain

   A term used in contradistinction to mountain, though far from implying a level surface, and it may be either elevated or low.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. plain

   A field of battle.

Etymology and Origins(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Plain

   The name given to the Girondist party on the floor of the French House of Assembly during the Revolution, as opposed to the “Mountain” party.

Matched Categories

1. • Land

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'plain' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3492

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'plain' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2790

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'plain' in Nouns Frequency: #2147

4. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'plain' in Adjectives Frequency: #453

Anagrams for plain »

1. Lapin

2. Lipan

How to pronounce plain?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say plain in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of plain in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of plain in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of plain in a Sentence

1. John Hughes:

   That's race discrimination, plain and simple, it is not.

2. Debra Katz:

   Although not allowed at National Institutes of Health to utilize Rick Bright expertise in vaccines or therapeutics, Rick Bright developed a plan to implement a robust national testing infrastructure, which emphasized the critical need to provide screening tests for asymptomatic individuals and to provide services to underserved populations disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, national Institutes of Health leadership declined to support Dr. Bright's recommendations because of political considerations, plain and simple. After having Rick Bright work suppressed for political reasons to the detriment of public health and safety, Rick Bright was sidelined from doing any further work to combat this deadly virus.

3. Carol Lyn Parrish:

   Catching and injuring and possibly killing a hammerhead shark and then prolonging the animal’s suffering and then gloating to take photos is cruel to animals, plain and simple, there is no excuse for that.

4. Alcee Hastings:

   And that is that I thought that those kinds of policies were plain crazy, and he would have to wait until hell freezes over if he thought I owed him a personal apology, i do not, and I will not.

5. Anuj Somany:

   Simple and plain to say ‘NO BRAIN, NO PAIN’

Images & Illustrations of plain

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