Jump To:

• plum
  plum

  noun

  the drupaceous fruit of any of several trees belonging to the genus Prunus, of the rose family, having an oblong stone.
• Plum
  Plum

  noun

  a city in SW Pennsylvania.

plum

¹ American  

[pluhm] / plʌm /

noun

• plums
  plural

1. the drupaceous fruit of any of several trees belonging to the genus Prunus, of the rose family, having an oblong stone.

2. the tree itself.

3. any of various other trees bearing a plumlike fruit.

4. the fruit itself.

5. a sugarplum.

6. a raisin, as in a cake or pudding.

7. a deep purple varying from bluish to reddish.

8. Informal. an excellent or desirable thing, as a fine position.

   The choicest plums went to his old cronies.

9. Informal. an unanticipated large increase in money or property, as an unexpected legacy; a windfall.

   The company offered bonuses and other plums.

10. Also called displacer.  a large stone used in massive concrete construction.

---

adjective

plummer, plummest

1. extremely desirable, rewarding, profitable, or the like.

   a plum job in the foreign service.

Plum ² American  

[pluhm] / plʌm /

noun

1. a city in SW Pennsylvania.

---

plum ¹ British  

/ plʌm /

noun

1. a small rosaceous tree, Prunus domestica, with white flowers and an edible oval fruit that is purple, yellow, or green and contains an oval stone See also greengage damson

2. the fruit of this tree

3. a raisin, as used in a cake or pudding

4. 1. a dark reddish-purple colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      a plum carpet

5. informal

   1. something of a superior or desirable kind, such as a financial bonus

   2. ( as modifier )

      a plum job

---

plum ² British  

/ plʌm /

adjective

1. a variant spelling of plumb plumb plumb plumb

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• plumlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• plums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of plum

before 900; Middle English; Old English plūme (cognate with German Pflaume ) ≪ Greek proûmnon plum, proúmnē plum tree; cf. prune ¹

Explanation

A plum is a flowering fruit tree, and it's also the name of the fruit that grows on it. Plums are small, dark reddish purple, and sweet. Plums have an edible, smooth skin, juicy flesh, and a hard pit in the middle. When plums are dried, they're called prunes. The typical color of a ripe plum — a rich, purple-red shade — is also called plum. And informally, you can say that something great or desirable is plum: "I was just offered a plum role in the school play!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plum Plum plums plummer plummest

I chose two: one ridged and heavy, its skin receding from burgundy into a deep, almost plum color; the other a cheerful red beefsteak.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

Substituting raw wedges of tomato, which far too often can be floury and tasteless, for slow roasted plum tomatoes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Reynolds was reshuffled to chief whip and Jones ended up with the plum role of Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

The tomatoes have an elongated plum shape and a pointed tip.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026

The dress hugs her frame, a tornado of tulle and lace in emerald, turquoise, plum, cobalt, and gold.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Monique Akoa Makani, making her Sparks debut after being acquired in the Kelsey Plum trade Sunday, entered the game in the first and made her first shot attempt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

The Sparks got good value for Plum in guard Monique Akoa Makani and a first-round pick in this year’s draft that, like their own, is likely to be a lottery pick.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Plum and Ogwumike are on expiring deals, and the Sparks’ most valuable roster asset, Rae Burrell, is a restricted free agent, but one of the few young players left on the Sparks’ roster.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

The Sparks have been the worst defensive team in the league this season and struggled to score when point guard Kelsey Plum was out of the lineup with an ankle injury.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

As they turned the corner onto their street, Plum Lane, Bat saw Janie up ahead on the sidewalk.

From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold

Thanks to a Philippines-Mexico connection, coconut shows up in sweet and savory recipes: ceviche with poached shrimp, coconut limonada and coconut raspado with jammy plums.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

Adding foods like blueberries, plums, blackberries, broad beans, and cherries to your daily diet, especially when paired with green tea, could be a simple way to support heart health, according to new research.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026

Berries, peaches, cherries, plums — anything that can be washed at home and eaten out of hand.

From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026

At the bar, I built a fantastic $59 meal from the happy-hour menu: hamachi crudo shingled with plums, chicken curry, and truffled brie grilled cheese with mango jam.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025

As the sun dips low in the sky, Taryn and I unpack our baskets from home, which contain bread, butter, cheese, and plums.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

A.--The trunnion plummer blocks are formed in the same manner as the crank shaft plummer blocks; the nuts are kept from turning back by means of a pinching screw passing through a stationary washer.

From A Catechism of the Steam Engine by Bourne, John, C.E.

Pillow Block, Plummer Block, or Pedestal.—The ordinary form of plummer block is represented in fig.

From An Introduction to Machine Drawing and Design by Low, David Allan

The same may be said with reference to articles used by the house plummer.

From The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852 by Casseday, Ben

The plummer block for receiving the thrust of the shaft is shown in fig.

From A Catechism of the Steam Engine by Bourne, John, C.E.

An instrument by which the wheel-lock guns and pistols were wound up; also used to screw up the nuts of the plummer boxes.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir

For women and not a few drag queens, Blanche is considered one of the plummest roles in all of show business, though its psychological complexities can prove debilitating.

From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2023

Now, Christie is the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention, the plummest of plum speaking gigs and a testament to how quickly he has risen in the GOP firmament.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2012

Related Words

• carrot
• cream