scheme

noun

1. (obsolete, rhetoric)An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words.
2. A representation of the aspects of the celestial bodies for any moment or at a given event.

   “a blue case, from which was drawn a scheme of nativity”

3. A systematic plan of future action.

   “The stoical scheme of supplying our wants by lopping off our desires, is like cutting off our feet when we want shoes.”

   “Originally the opening had doubtless marked the projection of another road, but the scheme had come to nothing.”

   “A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. This set-up solves several problems […].”

4. A plot or secret, devious plan.
5. An orderly combination of related parts.

   “the appearance and outward scheme of things”

   “such a scheme of things as shall at once take in time and eternity”

   “arguments […] sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy”

   “The Revolution came and changed his whole scheme of life.”

6. A chart or diagram of a system or object.

   “April 29, 1694, Robert South, A Sermon Preached at Westminster Abbey to draw an exact scheme of Constantinople, or a map of France”

7. A mathematical structure that generalizes the notion of an algebraic variety in several ways, such as taking account of multiplicities and allowing "varieties" defined over any commutative ring. Formally, a locally ringed space that admits a covering by open sets, each of which is isomorphic to an affine scheme (i.e. the spectrum of some commutative ring).
8. (Scotland, UK, colloquial)A council housing estate.

   “It was all too dear. They all just put their prices up because it was out in the scheme.”

   ““You can’t really say to the kids in the schemes [Scottish council estates]^([sic]): don’t do drugs, they’ll wreck your life, you’ll never get a job or a house or buy nice things.””

9. (Internet)Part of a uniform resource identifier indicating the protocol or other purpose, such as http: or news:.
10. (UK)A portfolio of pension plans with related benefits comprising multiple independent members.

verb

1. (intransitive)To plot, or contrive a plan; to manuever.

   “Laura snatches coins from inside a truck to make a telephone call, scrounges shoes and clothes for them at a municipal beach, schemes to get a room key so she and Howie can sleep overnight in the Starlight Motel, steals a Jeepster from a deputy sheriff who's trying to arrest them.”

   “The openly ridiculous plot has The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) scheming to win the Pirate Of The Year competition, even though he’s a terrible pirate, far outclassed by rivals voiced by Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek.”

2. (transitive)To plan; to contrive; to manuever.

   “He schemed a plot. He made use of the hotel's stationery to write a letter.”

name

1. A programming language, one of the two major dialects of Lisp.