master plan
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to construct a master plan for.
to master-plan one's career.
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to develop or improve (land, a community, a building complex, or the like) through a long-range plan that balances and harmonizes all elements.
The engineers master-planned the island to provide for increases in the tourist population.
noun
Etymology
Origin of master plan
First recorded in 1925–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has no official title but is one of Trump's envoys for the Gaza ceasefire, said his "master plan" aimed for "catastrophic success".
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
The capital is awe-inspiring thanks to Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s 1791 master plan, perfected by the 1901-02 McMillan Plan creating the National Mall and monumental core as we know them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026
In a master plan released over summer, the company laid out a vision in which artificial intelligence, robotics and energy storage systems eliminate scarcity.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
The first map, he said, is consistent with the master plan already in place, while the second map is only a concept: “It doesn’t tell you how it’s going to get there.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 11, 2025
They knew Cade could keep an eye on their epileptic boy, but I thought it was all part of the master plan to ensure Finn Easton’s atoms would never escape the state of California.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
