plunger
Americannoun
-
plungers
plural
-
Machinery. a pistonlike reciprocating part moving within the cylinder of a pump or hydraulic device.
-
Automotive. a pistonlike part in the valve of a pneumatic tire.
-
Also called plumber's helper. Also called plumber's friend,. Also called force cup. a device consisting of a handle with a rubber suction cup at one end, used as a force pump to free clogged drains and toilet traps.
-
a person or thing that plunges.
-
a reckless bettor or speculator.
noun
-
a rubber suction cup fixed to the end of a rod, used to clear blocked drains
-
a device or part of a machine that has a plunging or thrusting motion; piston
-
informal a reckless gambler
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of plunger
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In my mind, a fire extinguisher often gets put into the same “essentials” bucket as a plunger for your house: You should probably buy one before you need it.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Because water resists compression, pulling the plunger creates increasing resistance.
From Science Daily ● May 13, 2026
You can’t just burn you house down and walk away, so you grab a plunger.
From Slate ● Apr. 7, 2025
After breaking the Dalek, the Doctor hands a plunger from his Tardis which marks the "origins of the iconic Dalek arm", the Doctor Who official Twitter page said.
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2023
One: Turn the filling plunger counterclockwise as far as it will go.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
The other women on the beach are dedicated cold plungers; their WhatsApp group contains the words “polar” and “sunrise.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Housebound plungers deprived of access to movies, live sports and other forms of collective entertainment played at investing in meme stocks such as GameStop and dogecoins and other weird cryptocurrencies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2024
Then it's time to pull out a plunger — there are mini plungers designed for sinks, but you can simply flip up the flange of your toilet plunger, as well.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2022
I always pulled on the little plungers to see if chocolate bars would appear magically without the requisite pennies.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2022
“Excuse me, I got a shipment of plungers I need to unpack.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
