plot vs the thing

plot

noun
  • A plan; a purpose. 

  • An area or land used for building on or planting on. 

  • A graph or diagram drawn by hand or produced by a mechanical or electronic device. 

  • Participation in any stratagem or conspiracy. 

  • Contrivance; deep reach thought; ability to plot or intrigue. 

  • Attractive physical attributes of characters involved in a story, originating from ironic juxtaposition with the original meaning (course of the story). 

  • A secret plan to achieve an end, the end or means usually being illegal or otherwise questionable. 

  • The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means. 

verb
  • To mark (a point on a graph, chart, etc). 

  • To conceive (a crime, misdeed etc). 

  • To trace out (a graph or diagram). 

the thing

noun
  • The needful thing: something suitable for the purpose. 

  • The desired thing: someone or something that is popularly favored. 

How often have the words plot and the thing occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )