plumb
a small mass of lead or other heavy material, as that suspended by a line and used to measure the depth of water or to ascertain a vertical line.: Compare plumb line.
true according to a plumb line perpendicular.
Informal. downright or absolute.
in a perpendicular or vertical direction.
exactly, precisely, or directly.
Informal. completely or absolutely: She was plumb mad. You're plumb right.
to test or adjust by a plumb line.
to make vertical.
Shipbuilding. horn (def. 32).
to sound with or as with a plumb line.
to measure (depth) by sounding.
to examine closely in order to discover or understand: to plumb someone's thoughts.
to seal with lead.
to weight with lead.
to provide (a house, building, apartment, etc.) with plumbing.
to work as a plumber.
Idioms about plumb
out of / off plumb, not corresponding to the perpendicular; out of true.
Origin of plumb
1Other words for plumb
Other words from plumb
- plumb·a·ble, adjective
- plumbless, adjective
- plumbness, noun
- re·plumb, verb (used with object)
- un·plumb, adjective
Words that may be confused with plumb
- plum, plumb
Words Nearby plumb
Other definitions for Plumb (2 of 2)
J(ohn) H(arold), 1911–2001, British historian.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use plumb in a sentence
Hold the weight plumb under your shoulder and next to your hip on your standing-leg side.
The show’s science fiction background and action-packed battles keep each episode engaging, even during the slower-paced moments when it plumbs the depth of each character’s mental state.
What to Know About the New 'Neon Genesis Evangelion’ Film, According to Series Creator Hideaki Anno | Patrick Lucas Austin | August 20, 2021 | TimeThe city had likewise been disappointed by its own forensic experts, the outside digital-audio specialists who neither police nor prosecutors had sought out to plumb the Gaines tape.
It’s an at-times challenging work that plumbs her maternal relationship to its deepest depths.
Miller says he sympathizes with what I’m saying about the power of art coming from the connection with a human artist, plumbing their emotions and consciousness.
He has no redeeming or (even complicating) qualities—no depths to plumb, no angles to survey, no gray areas to explore.
Game of Thrones’ ‘The Lion and the Rose’: Joffrey’s Demented, Shocking Royal Wedding | Andrew Romano | April 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNearly 65 years after the fact, it's amazing how much of what we think we know about Britain's "finest" hour is just plumb wrong.
Rethink Everything You Think You Know About World War II | David Frum | February 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the “just plumb crazy” class, I put the business of his chaining his mug to the radiator to prevent its being stolen.
Alan Turing’s Brother: He Should Be Alive Today | John Ferrier Turing | June 23, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTShe believes her illness has bestowed on her a single-mindedness that causes her to plumb the same waters again and again.
Her companions stuck to the side of the road, but Suu Kyi walked into the middle, plumb in the line of fire.
‘The Lady and the Peacock’: Peter Popham’s Biography Reveals the Real Aung San Suu Kyi | Peter Popham | March 29, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThen, grandpaw, he turns round to the baby again, plumb took up with them four new nippers.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher | Eleanor GatesHe put his hand to his belt, screwed up his mug, and said he felt plumb et up inside.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher | Eleanor GatesI just sit there, knocked plumb silly, almost, and looked at a big rose in the carpet.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher | Eleanor GatesAn' I'm here t' declare that it's plumb foolish t' mix things with that layout till we can see t' shoot tolerable straight.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairOn either side of this isolated bar of sandstone a plumb-line might have been dropped straight to the level of the river.
Overland | John William De Forest
British Dictionary definitions for plumb
/ (plʌm) /
a weight, usually of lead, suspended at the end of a line and used to determine water depth or verticality
the perpendicular position of a freely suspended plumb line (esp in the phrases out of plumb, off plumb)
(prenominal) informal, mainly US (intensifier): a plumb nuisance
in a vertical or perpendicular line
informal, mainly US (intensifier): plumb stupid
informal exactly; precisely (also in the phrase plumb on)
(tr often foll by up) to test the alignment of or adjust to the vertical with a plumb line
(tr) to undergo or experience (the worst extremes of misery, sadness, etc): to plumb the depths of despair
(tr) to understand or master (something obscure): to plumb a mystery
to connect or join (a device such as a tap) to a water pipe or drainage system
Origin of plumb
1Derived forms of plumb
- plumbable, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse