Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to hide, either of an individual or an object, usu. stolen .

1612		Dekker Canting Song O per se O O1: When they did seeke, then we did creepe, and plant in Ruff-mans low.
1637		Dekker Canters Dict. Eng. Villainies (8th edn) [as cit. 1612].
1665		Head Eng. Rogue I 51: Plant, To lay or hide.
a.1674		‘Canting Song’ Head Canting Academy (1674) 22: [as cit. 1612].
1696		J. Dunton Night-Walker Sept. 9: They [...] had their own Sparks close by them, to whom they gave dumb signs, which they understood well enough, to follow them, and plant themselves in the next Room to them.
1725		New Canting Dict. n.p.: plant To lay, place or hide.
1753		J. Poulter Discoveries (1774) 42: To plant; to secrete.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Plant, to lay, place, or hide.
1786		Whole Art of Thieving [as cit. 1753].
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant n.p.: Plant to secret [sic] any thing, to hide any article stolen.
1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 258: plant: To hide, or conceal any person or thing, is termed planting him, or it.
1824		letter 28 Dec. in Pierce Egan’s Life in London (10 Apr. 1825) 83/2: [W]e planted (buried) the property, no great way of the spot where you found Monsieur Dodson's tog (coat) .
1827		P. Cunningham New South Wales II 59: A number of slang phrases current in St Giles’ Greek bid fair to become legitimized in the dictionary of this colony: plant, swag, pulling up and other epithets of the Tom and Jerry school are established – the dross passing here as genuine even among all ranks.
1834		Three Years Practical Experience of a Settler in NSW in Sydney Monitor 14 Nov. 1838 2/4: There is an immense deal of slang in the language of the country — ‘cove,’ ‘gammon,’ ‘plant’ are as familiar as household words.
1839		H. Brandon Dict. of the Flash or Cant Lang. 168: Schofel pitchers work the bulls and gypsies make and plant the gammy-lowr swags.
1845		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 25 Oct. 76/1: That [the missing pocket-book] had been ‘planted’ in consequence of the alarm occasioned by the proceedings against Mademoiselle is undeniable.
1848		Taunton Courier 16 Feb. 7/2: It is understood that some articles ol plate are now ‘planted’ somewhere the neighbourhood, but the constables have as yet been unable find them.
1849		A. Harris Emigrant Family I 207: I planted my horse and told them I couldn’t find him. Pshaw! and that fool would have stood parley-vouing here till the chance was lost.
1851		Notts. Guardian 18 Sept. 7/4: After [...] the man, who in slang phrase asked Wheatley to turn up his coat cuffs and ‘open his b—y forks,’ so that he might have ‘no planting,’ he allowed himself to be searched, and the watch was found in his pocket.
1854		Goulburn Herald (NSW) 29 July 4/4: Who [...] has not heard of ‘Cranky Bet Meredith,’ the plotter of crimes? No one knew better than she how to plant stolen goods.
1859		‘Hundred Stretches Hence’ in Matsell Vocabulum 124: Planted the swag, and lost to sight, / We’ll bid them, one and all, good night, / A hundred stretches hence.
1861		Bell’s Life in Sydney 4 May 3/4: He discovered the three ‘children’ snugly ‘planted‘ inside the chimney pot.
1863		T. Taylor Ticket-Of-Leave Man Act IV: I’ve tipped the old woman the office, and planted the tools.
1874		M. Clarke Term of His Natural Life (1897) 406: In vain had he laid traps for him; in vain had he ‘planted’ figs of tobacco.
1882		Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 7: To Plant - To conceal.
1884		Leicester Chron. 14 June 12/1: He ‘planted’ nearly the whole of the gold he had stolen [...] depositing under the roots of an old tree.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. [as 1882].
1899		C. Rook Hooligan Nights 10: [We] went back to where we’d planted the meat.
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 61: They’s eleven hundert here, see? Plant it in yer sock.
1907		Sun. Times (Perth) 7 Apr. 1/1: A wag purloined the razor and planted it. The ship was scoured for the missing implement.
1912		A. Berkman Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist (1926) 209: Quick, plant it. The screw’s goin’ t’ frisk me.
1919		St Louis Post-Despatch (MO) 16 Jan. 25/1: Where’d you be if I hadn’t planted you, you fat-headed old baster (shoplifter).
1920		F. Packard White Moll x: We planted them nice and handy where you could get them without much trouble.
1931		D. Runyon ‘Breach of Promise’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 25: I do not tell her just how foolish she is to be letting me in on where she plants these letters.
1949		W.R. Burnett Asphalt Jungle in Four Novels (1984) 135: I got a grand planted for you.
1950		S.J. Baker in Sun. Herald (Sydney) 8 June 9/5: Detective Doyle's list includes such old English slang words as [...] ‘plant,’ to hide.
1955		‘Blackie’ Audett Rap Sheet 60: Then we switched to another car we had planted out, locked the suitcase in the trunk.
1965		W. Dick Bunch of Ratbags 250: We had some more grog planted up the lane.
1986		G.A. Wilkes Exploring Aus. Eng. 13: We speak of planting Christmas presents where the children cannot find them.
1999		G. Seal Lingo 38: Other convict terms that are either still with us or have only relatively recently dropped include: fence, flash, jemmy, kid, lark, leary (leading to lair), mug, out and out, pinch, plant.

2. to bury a body.

1785		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Plant [...] to bury, as, he was planted by the parson.
1855		Harper’s Mag. Dec. 37/1: [The yellow fever] don’t take the acclimated nor the ‘old uns;’ [...] but let it catch hold of a crowd of ‘Johnny come latelys,’ and it plants them at once [DA].
1863		Army Police Record in Annals of the Army of the Cumberland 609: The language he used respecting the Federal troops was, ‘Kill ’em! Plant ’em out! Manure the soil with ’em!’.
1873		J. O’Connor Wanderings of a Vagabond 197: He’s got a mighty bad cough, has Johnny, and if he don’t watch sharp, they’ll plant him next spring where he won’t grow any more.
1880		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 3 Jan. 10/1: ‘Where is he going to be buried?’ or ‘where are they going to plant him?’.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Aug. 13/4: A man named O’Leary died in the local hospital, and the pushing undertaker, Mr. Blank, was engaged to ‘plant’ him.
1894		Mirror of Life 24 Feb. 7/4: [headline] died with a good record / A Woman Plants Four Men and Raises Fourteen Children.
1894		Truth (Sydney) 22 July 1/5: They decided [...] to plant the stiff where he was.
1897		A.H. Lewis Wolfville 17: He ups an’ plants the Stingin’ Lizard’s remainder the next day, makin’ the deal with a stained box, crape, an’ the full regalia.
1902		‘Dads Wayback’ in Sun. Times (Sydney) 26 Oct. 5/5: ‘Ef it wos only ter bury er black feller, yous’ could get fifty cockies ter ride twenty mile any day ter help plant him’.
1903		‘Hugh McHugh’ Out for the Coin 28: Like a brave Kentucky ge’man he furnished drinkables for all them that saw him planted.
1910		Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Sept. 16/1: A dismal nark was Gregory, an angry cove and sour! / But now he’s drifting tomb-ward; we will plant him in an hour.
1914		C.J. Dennis ‘The Play’ in Bulletin (Sydney) 16 July 47/1: She takes ’is knockout drops, up in ’er room: / They think she’s snuffed, an’ plant ’er in ’er tomb.
1916		O.O. McIntyre New York Day By Day 11 Oct. [synd. col.] [T.A. Dorgan’s] column starts of each day with a famous saying phrased in slang. Thus : As Marc Anthony would have said it today: ‘I come to plant Caesar, not to peddle the bull’.
1916		‘Anzac’ On the Anzac Trail 192: Armistice did take place, lasting till 4.30 p.m., for the purpose of burying the dead or ‘planting stiffs,’ to give the occu- pation its local name.
1921		Dos Passos Three Soldiers 202: Well, his wound opened an’ he had a hemorrhage, an’ now he’s planted out in the back lot.
1934		O. Strange Sudden 197: I’d be like him – buzzard-meat [...] Oughta planted him, I s’pose.
1941		V. Davis Phenomena in Crime 167: Nobby [...] wants to be planted in style.
1952		R. Prather Darling, It’s Death (2003) 45: If I need the stuff and don’t have it, I’m dead. And if I get planted, you’re sunk.
1966		D. Westlake Busy Body 14: Rovito [...] said, his voice low, ‘Mark where they planted him’.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 13: Jakie himself would have given you five hundred to one he was planted on Long Island.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 272: Watching them plant some scuzzbucket politician.
1991		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper From The Inside 35: The nightclub flashy gangster, / He plants them in the ground.
2001		J. Baker Shooting in the Dark (2002) 331: He’s gone to the cemetery, look for somewhere to plant Ralph.
2019		D. Jenkins Reunion 101: Hoyt could sell me a [burial] plot close to where Major Ripley Arnold was planted.

3. usu. of the police, to hide evidence in the clothes, home or car of a suspected person in order to ensure they have something with which to charge their victim; usu. as plant something (up)on someone v.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 258: To plant upon a man, is to [...] place any thing purposely in his way, that he may steal it and be immediately detected.
1898		Binstead & Wells Pink ’Un and Pelican 180: Along comes the pore, benighted Juggins with the puddin’-basin as the ‘D’ had planted on him.
1935		R. Chandler ‘Spanish Blood’ in Spanish Blood (1946) 25: He found them all right, Sam. He didn’t plant them.
1945		G. Fairlie Capt. Bulldog Drummond 233: They could use them [i.e. illicit pamphlets] to plant on our people, when they have nothing else to offer as evidence.
1957		C. MacInnes City of Spades (1964) 234: The police don’t love me all that much [...] Whenever I get into my car at night, I look it over to see if they’ve planted anything.
1960		C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 127: You come to my place [...] then you have ’em plant some stuff on me.
1971		R. Woodley Dealer 91: ‘Some cops will fuck you around, plant stuff on you to make a bust and shit’.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 185: You can get even for past burn by planting drugs on another and calling in the police.
1983		J. Sullivan ‘May the Force be with You’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] He threatened to plant something on you, and set you up for a bit of bird!
1996		P. Temple Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] ‘What if Quinn went out, knocked him, and planted the gun and the shit?’ [...] ‘Jack, he’s an officer with sixteen years service’.
1998		I. Welsh Filth 132: I had the sheet ay acid to plant and I was about tae dae it.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 17: I planted two reefers in his sax case and buzzed the fuzz.

4. (also take a plant) to post a spy, a detective or any individual, or listening device, for the purposes of surreptitious surveillance; usu. as plant someone (up)on someone v.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang. in McLachlan (1964) 258: To plant upon a man, is to set somebody to watch his motions.
1829		Vidocq Memoirs (trans. W. McGinn) III 99: When he is brought in you can easily plant yourself upon him.
1855		Fife Herald 15 Mar. 2/6: The two armed men who have been ‘planted’ to keep a good look out.
1877		Five Years’ Penal Servitude 122: That warder is ‘spotted’ by the chief warder, spies are even ‘planted,’ and the whole thing soon comes out.
1906		A.H. Lewis Confessions of a Detective 199: He has a date wit’ you, but you’re too slow for his clock. So he chases; an’ leaves me planted to give you your orders.
1925		Black Mask Aug. III 92: I figured if I planted her in that boarding-house she’d soon get something on either Mark Peters or the kid.
1933		C.G. Booth ‘Stag Party’ in Penzler Pulp Fiction (2006) 94: The boys’ll have to plant a new in-man.
1940		O. Strange Sudden Takes the Trail 94: It’s a good thing I planted a friend at the Bar O.
1956		J. Thompson ‘The Cellini Chalice’ in Fireworks (1988) 83: You plant a cop on me and then you’ve got the nerve to ask me what it’s all about!
1960		Wodehouse Jeeves in the Offing 44: The butler turned out to be one of a gang of crooks, planted in the house.
1969		D. Pendleton Executioner (1973) 101: You’d try to get in there and plant bugs, right in the damn police station?
1992		P. Earley Hot House 8: Prison officials [...] denied that Hicks had been planted in Leavenworth or coerced into providing [...] information.

5. to throw dice.

1828

‘A Flat Enlightened’ Life in the West II 89: Paddy was more experienced in shaking the elbow, planting the dice and [...] using the ‘cue,’ than in using the mawleys.

6. usu. of the police, to incriminate a person by hiding evidence about their person or home in order to ensure a conviction.

1837		Disraeli Venetia II 343: Some good fellow nabbed by a baliff, or planted by his mistress. Signals of distress!
1917		F. Packard Adventures of Jimmie Dale (1918) I xi: ‘You wouldn’t plant a man like that!’ he cried brokenly.
1920		F. Packard White Moll 89: You dirty skates! [...] You planted me cold, did you?
1974		G.F. Newman You Flash Bastard 72: ‘You dirty cock-sucking scumbags,’ he screeched. ‘You planted me, you motherfuckers!’.
2002		Fabian & Byrne Out of Time (ms.) 43: Theo had been told that if the fuzz came again and found nothing, they’d plant us anyway.

7. to mark out a potential victim for robbery.

1839		H. Brandon Dict. of the Flash or Cant Lang. 164/2: Plant – to mark a person out for plunder.
1857		‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 25: Plant—to mark a person out for plunder.
1860		Cork Examiner 18 Jan. 4/6: Look alive, pals [...] here’s that old cove a-coming. I’ll plant him.
1873		in Sl. Dict.

8. (US) to deposit money, lay down a bet.

1842		Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 10 Sept. n.p.: After the rowdy was planted, the penny to decide who should choose the ground [for the fight] was flirted .
1945		W.R. Burnett Tomorrow’s Another Day 117: ‘Only thing that worries me,’ he said, ‘is all this money pouring in. It’s going to look bad.’ ‘That’s my job,’ said Lonnie. ‘I can plant it from New York City to New Orleans. A thousand here, a thousand there’.

9. (UK Und.) to pass counterfeit coins or notes; thus planter n., one who undertakes this.

1863		T. Taylor Ticket-Of-Leave Man Act I: I have the beautifullest lot of bank of England flimsies that ever came out of Birmingham. It’s the safest paper to work, and you should have it cheap, dirt cheap, and credit till you’d planted it.
1877		Five Years’ Penal Servitude 237: The Welshman’s particular ‘lay’ was the passing of bad money. He got supplies at a nominal price from the makers of ‘shise coin,’ and would ‘plant’ it where he could.
1883		J. Greenwood Tag, Rag & Co. 21: The tradesman on whom her ‘poor old man’ had tried to ‘plant the sour,’ had sent for a constable.
1895		J. Greenwood Behind A Bus 134: I was once seven and sixpence to the good, and that at the expense of as clever a ‘planter’ as ever dealt in ‘sours’. [...] ‘Planting the sours’ was an iniquity not unknown among conductors themselves.
1899		C. Rook Hooligan Nights 8: ’E was making it [i.e. counterfeit money], and I was planting it — ’ere there, and everywhere.

10. to ‘salt’ a gold-field in the hope of attracting investors.

1892

P. Clarke New Chum in Aus. 72: A salted claim, a pit sold for a £10 note, in which a nuggget worth a few shillings had before been planted [F&H].

11. in intransitive use of sense 1, to hide oneself.

1843		Satirist & Sporting Chron. (Sydney) 25 Mar. 1/1: We have heard of the Gallant Lieutenant planting under the bed, when the Bushrangers attacked the Rev. Mr. V****.
1888		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (1922) 99: Don’t go planting in the gully, or someone’ll think you’re wanted.
1905		F. Hutchison Philosophy of Johnny the Gent 83: ‘The Wise Cracker points him out to the bull, an he draws his cannon an’ plants in the alley for him’.
1928		J. Callahan Man’s Grim Justice 47: We’ll plant down in the hold of the barge where the crew won’t be able to see us.
1933		‘Paul Cain’ ‘One, Two, Three’ in Penzler Pulp Fiction (2006) 13: Raines had [...] planted across the street in case Healey tried to powder.
1936		L. Duncan Over the Wall 335: They’ve ranked us, and we’ve got to plant – muy pronto.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 158/2: Plant, v. [...] 3. To conceal or hide, as a fugitive from justice, a victim of kidnapping.

12. (Aus.) to consume a drink.

1881

Bulletin (Sydney) 14 May. 4/1: Mr. Thingumbob,’ remarked the politican to the Parisian, as both ‘planted’ their fluids with evident satisfaction, ‘ that’s foine wine, isn't it?’.

13. to abandon, to leave.

1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 245: There he planted me with a pipe, a box of tobacco, and the morning paper.
1930		W.R. Burnett Iron Man 185: If you had your way [...] you’d plant me here so I couldn’t do nothing but read magazines, then you’d go running after your bum friends.

14. (US) in weak use of sense 9, to sit down.

1905		F. Hutchison Philosophy of Johnny the Gent 91: ‘He finally plants in a chair over in the corner’.
1952		W.R. Burnett Vanity Row 7: ‘Rosey, go pick yourself out a chair and plant your ass in it’.

15. (US Und.) to place fake customers in a supposed ‘store’ (i.e. a fake betting office) that is being used for an elaborate confidence trick.

1924		G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 179: ‘Planting’ a store with customers is a favorite trick of this type.
1937		(con. 1905–25) E.H. Sutherland Professional Thief (1956) 14: As soon as he takes off a score, he leaves the store, plants it, and goes back for another.

16. to create an illusion for the purposes of swindling.

1933

W.R. Burnett Dark Hazard (1934) 62: It was just a joke, see? I had the whole thing planted.

17. to attribute falsely, e.g. the guilt for a crime.

1963

N. Dunn Up the Junction 117: They’ve planted the Bus Murder on me brother ...put a fuckin’ key in his pocket and all.