Plaid
(Plaid), a. Having a pattern or colors which resemble a Scotch plaid; checkered or marked with
bars or stripes at right angles to one another; as, plaid muslin.
Plaided
(Plaid"ed), a.
1. Of the material of which plaids are made; tartan. "In plaided vest." Wordsworth.
2. Wearing a plaid. Campbell.
Plaiding
(Plaid"ing) n. Plaid cloth.
Plain
(Plain) v. i. [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.] To lament; to bewail; to complain.
[Archaic & Poetic] Milton.
We with piteous heart unto you pleyne.
Chaucer. Plain
(Plain), v. t. To lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss. [Archaic & Poetic] Sir J. Harrington.
Plain
(Plain), a. [Compar. Plainer ; superl. Plainest.] [F., level, flat, fr. L. planus, perhaps akin to E.
floor. Cf. Llano, Piano, Plan, Plane level, a level surface.]
1. Without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See Plane.
The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.
Isa. xl. 4. 2. Open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.
Our troops beat an army in plain fight.
Felton. 3. Not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear; unmistakable. "'T is a plain case." Shak.
4. (a) Void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious embellishment; not rich; simple. (b)
Not highly cultivated; unsophisticated; free from show or pretension; simple; natural; homely; common. "Plain
yet pious Christians." Hammond. "The plain people." A. Lincoln. (c) Free from affectation or disguise; candid; sincere; artless; honest; frank.
"An honest mind, and plain." Shak. (d) Not luxurious; not highly seasoned; simple; as, plain food. (e)
Without beauty; not handsome; homely; as, a plain woman. (f) Not variegated, dyed, or figured; as, plain
muslin. (g) Not much varied by modulations; as, a plain tune.
Plain battle, open battle; pitched battle. [Obs.] Chaucer. — Plain chant (Mus.) Same as Plain
song, below. — Plain chart (Naut.), a chart laid down on Mercator's projection. — Plain dealer.
(a) One who practices plain dealing. (b) A simpleton. [Obs.] Shak. — Plain dealing. See under
Dealing. — Plain molding (Join.), 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. (a) 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. (b) A simple melody. — Plain speaking, plainness or
bluntness of speech.
Syn. — Level; flat; smooth; open; artless; unaffected; undisguised; frank; sincere; honest; candid; ingenuous; unembellished; downright; blunt; clear; simple; distinct; manifest; obvious; apparent.
See Manifest.
Plain
(Plain), adv. In a plain manner; plainly. "To speak short and pleyn." Chaucer. "To tell you plain."
Shak.
Plain
(Plain), n. [Cf. OF. plaigne, F. plaine. See Plain, a.]
