plumb

[ pluhm ]

/ plʌm /

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noun

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.

adjective Also plum .

true according to a plumb line perpendicular.

Informal. downright or absolute.

adverb Also plum .

in a perpendicular or vertical direction.

exactly, precisely, or directly.

Informal. completely or absolutely: She was plumb mad. You're plumb right.

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

to work as a plumber.

OTHER WORDS FOR plumb

2 vertical, straight, square.

See synonyms for plumb on Thesaurus.com

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Idioms about plumb

out of / off plumb, not corresponding to the perpendicular; out of true.

Origin of plumb

1250–1300; Middle English plumbe, probably <Anglo-French *plombe<Vulgar Latin *plumba, for Latin plumbum lead

OTHER WORDS FROM plumb

plumb·a·ble, adjectiveplumbless, adjectiveplumbness, nounre·plumb, verb (used with object)

un·plumb, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH plumb

plum, plumb

Words nearby plumb

plugola, plugugly, plum, plumage, plumate, plumb, plumbaginaceous, plumbaginous, plumbago, plumb bob, plumbeous

Other definitions for plumb (2 of 2)

Plumb

[ pluhm ]

/ plʌm /

noun

J(ohn) H(arold), 1911–2001, British historian.

How to use plumb in a sentence

The 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.
Minneapolis Police Were Cleared in the 2013 Killing of Terrance Franklin. A Video Complicates the Story—and Now the Case May Be Reopened|Josiah Bates|June 25, 2021|Time
It’s an at-times challenging work that plumbs her maternal relationship to its deepest depths.
The Best Books of 2021 So Far|Lucas Wittmann|May 28, 2021|Time
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.
I Am Not a Machine. Yes You Are. - Issue 98: Mind|Kevin Berger|March 31, 2021|Nautilus
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|DAILY BEAST

Nearly 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|DAILY BEAST
In 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|DAILY BEAST
She believes her illness has bestowed on her a single-mindedness that causes her to plumb the same waters again and again.
Josephine King Connects Madness and Art in London|Casey Schwartz|May 1, 2012|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
Then, grandpaw, he turns round to the baby again, plumb took up with them four new nippers.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher|Eleanor Gates
He put his hand to his belt, screwed up his mug, and said he felt plumb et up inside.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher|Eleanor Gates
I just sit there, knocked plumb silly, almost, and looked at a big rose in the carpet.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher|Eleanor Gates
An' 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. Sinclair
On 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

plumb

/ (plʌm) /

noun

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)

adjective Also: plum

(prenominal) informal, mainly US (intensifier)a plumb nuisance

adverb Also: plum

in a vertical or perpendicular line

informal, mainly US (intensifier)plumb stupid

informal exactly; precisely (also in the phrase plumb on)

verb

(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

Derived forms of plumb

plumbable, adjective

Word Origin for plumb

C13: from Old French plomb (unattested) lead line, from Old French plon lead, from Latin plumbum lead

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

plumb

OTHER WORDS FOR plumb

Idioms about plumb

Origin of plumb

OTHER WORDS FROM plumb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH plumb

Words nearby plumb

Other definitions for plumb (2 of 2)

Words related to plumb

How to use plumb in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for plumb

Derived forms of plumb

Word Origin for plumb