noun / verb
scheme
SKEEM/skiːm/
A plan organizing action toward a purpose.
The organizers coordinate a scheme for arranging the community garden.
Etymology
From the idea of a form or figure, scheme developed through an outline or representation into a plan of action. Suggestions of secrecy or dishonesty attached to that planning sense later.
In context
one of the clearest signs of a Ponzi scheme is the promise of unusually high returns often much higher than what is typically available through traditional Investments
More examples
- Investigators uncover a scheme to steal customers' credit card numbers.
- They scheme to take control of the company.
- The designer chooses a color scheme of blue and gray.
Forms
scheme · schemes · schemed · scheming
schemer noun — Someone who devises clever or dishonest plans.