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# plain

«plain» in Mova's school dictionary: **simple, with nothing added or no decoration, like a plain…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (plain, plainer, plainest); noun (a plain, plains); adverb (plain: plain wrong)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Plain means simple, with nothing added or no decoration, like a plain T-shirt or plain yogurt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#m1)

2) Plain means easy to see or understand; clear, as in «it was plain that he was tired». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#m2)

3) A plain is a large, flat area of land with few trees. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#m3)

4) Plain can describe someone who is not especially good-looking (not kind to say). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#m4)

5) Plain (adverb) means completely, as in «plain silly». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In geography: plains are wide, flat lands, like the Great Plains of North America, good for farming and grazing. In art and writing: plain colours, plain English (simple, clear words). In maths, «plain» paper has no lines or squares. Everyday: «plain flour», «plain chocolate» (UK: dark chocolate), «plain clothes» police. Phrases: «plain and simple», «in plain sight», «plain sailing» (easy), «as plain as day».

### examples

- I'd like a plain biscuit, please. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#x1)
- Draw your picture on plain paper. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#x2)
- It was plain that she was upset. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#x3)
- Buffalo once roamed the Great Plains. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#x4)
- The instructions were written in plain English. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#x5)
- He wore a plain white shirt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#x6)
- The keys were in plain sight on the table. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#x7)
- After the first hill, it was plain sailing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#x8)
- That's just plain silly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/#x9)

### note

Homophone: «plane» (an aeroplane, a flat surface in maths, a woodworking tool, a tree) sounds the same. In maths, a flat surface is a «plane», not a «plain». Comparatives: «plainer, plainest».

### In the corpora

- [DNA showed the quagga was a kind of plains zebra, and a project has bred zebras that look like quaggas again.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/281-extinct-forever-the-dodo-the-passenger-pigeon-the-thylacine-and-more/12/)
- [The deadliest mushroom in the world, the death cap, looks plain and tastes fine.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/393-mushrooms-and-creatures-to-avoid-in-the-woods-death-caps-adders-ticks-and-hornets/3/)
- [The bare winter countryside seems to show him «the insides of things», and he likes it plain and strong.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/33-willows-ch3-part1-winter-and-the-way-to-the-wood/6/)
- [Just a pig—a plain pig!» (Here «pig» means a selfish, thoughtless person.)](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/42-willows-ch5-part2-mole-end/22/)
- [As sugar dissolves you can see wavy streams, because the sugary water bends light differently from plain water.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/6-mixing-and-dissolving/16/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «plain» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/plain/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.