Definition of "scheme"

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

1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […]

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

c. 1713, Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects

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 […].

2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly)

the appearance and outward scheme of things

1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […]

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

1706, Francis Atterbury, A Sermon Preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul; at the Funeral of My. Tho. Bennett

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

1754, Jonathan Edwards, The Freedom of the Will

The Revolution came and changed his whole scheme of life.

1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 20, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans

to draw an exact scheme of Constantinople, or a map of France

April 29, 1694, Robert South, A Sermon Preached at Westminster Abbey

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

2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 101

“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.”

2023 July 2, David Barnett, quoting Irvine Welsh, “‘Choose drugs?’ 30 years after he wrote Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh says life is tougher now”, in The Observer‎

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.

2012 April 26, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits”, in The Onion AV Club‎

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

1908, Bohemian Magazine, volume 15, page 381