Plain /(?)/
Plain
v. i.
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To lament; to bewail; to complain. [Archaic & Poetic]
We with piteous heart unto you pleyne.
Plain
v. t.
- To lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss. [Archaic & Poetic]
Plain
a.
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Without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See Plane.
The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.
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Open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
Our troops beat an army in plain fight.
- Not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear; unmistakable.
- Void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious embellishment; not rich; simple.
Phrases & Compounds
- Plain battle
- open battle; pitched battle.
- Plain chant
- Same as Plain song, below.
- Plain chart
- a chart laid down on Mercator's projection.
- Plain dealer
- One who practices plain dealing
- Plain dealing
- See under Dealing.
- Plain molding
- molding of which the surfaces are plain figures.
- Plain sewing
- sewing of seams by simple and common stitches, in distinct from fancy work, embroidery, etc.; -- distinguished also from designing and fitting garments.
- Plain song
- The Gregorian chant, or canto fermo; the prescribed melody of the Roman Catholic service, sung in unison, in tones of equal length, and rarely extending beyond the compass of an octave
- Plain speaking
- plainness or bluntness of speech.
Plain
adv.
- In a plain manner; plainly.
Plain
n.
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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.
Descending fro the mountain into playn.
Him the Ammonite Worshiped in Rabba and her watery plain.
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A field of battle. [Obs.]
Lead forth my soldiers to the plain.
Plain
v. t.
imp. & p. p. Plained; p. pr. & vb. n. Plaining
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To plane or level; to make plain or even on the surface. [R.]
We would rake Europe rather, plain the East.
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To make plain or manifest; to explain.
What's dumb in show, I'll plain in speech.