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.
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.
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 )
in a vertical or perpendicular line
informal (intensifier)
plumb stupid
informal exactly; precisely (also in the phrase plumb on )
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
1250–1300; Middle English plumbe, probably < Anglo-French *plombe < Vulgar Latin *plumba, for Latin plumbum lead
To plumb a body of water, you measure its depth. To plumb a house, you connect all of its pipes. To make carpentry plumb, you get it exactly vertical. Originally, the verb plumb only meant “to measure the depth of water.” These days, if you “plumb the depths” of something, you go in deep for knowledge and experience: your Heidegger seminar may plumb the depths of German Existentialism like Jacques Cousteau plumbed the depths of the ocean.
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Scepticism came in waves in late spring when they lost to two of the bottom six and then drew with Livingston, plumb last in the Premiership.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
Honestly, it’s refreshing to be repulsed and intrigued by a movie willing to plumb these psychological depths when Hollywood won’t.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2026
Or maybe we’ll plumb new depths of dysfunction in the coming year.
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2025
She had focused on romance stories about Navy SEALs but realized she was trying too hard to plumb an unfamiliar topic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
“I know you plumb wore out, Miss Love.”
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Nick Plumb, a director at the Power to Change think tank, says that the sight of open criminality on the High Street fuels feelings of "powerlessness" - a force that's proving potent in UK politics.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
Even people who say they have medical qualifications are spreading misinformation online and in podcasts, according to psychosexual and relationship therapist Evie Plumb.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
About two years ago, St. Michael’s hired Richard Plumb as president.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Plumb championed a new emergency services major that has drawn wide student interest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Isaac Plumb had been commissioned and transferred to another company and Whitney was with the pioneers.
From Personal Recollections of the War of 1861 As Private, Sergeant and Lieutenant in the Sixty-First Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry by Fuller, Charles Augustus
He plumbs the lives of the family of William Henry Seward, one of the most consequential political men of pre-Civil War America, with a searching eye to the texture of their emotional world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
D’Angelo asks that question — worries it, caresses it, plumbs its unseen depths — no fewer than two dozen times in what might have been his signature hit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2025
In keeping with its title, “Choreomaniacs,” which seems to pick up where “Revolver” leaves off, plumbs wilder depths.
From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2023
Among these some 300 pages are gems, including “Among the Trees,” by poet Carl Phillips, who plumbs the human connections that can be forged in a forest.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2023
They have also a kind of damsin plumbs, which they call famesta.
Her 2022 debut novel, “Aesthetica,” plumbed the lengths one aged-out influencer is willing to go to reverse her cosmetic surgeries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
Right now, only some of the dancers in each of the two casts I saw plumbed the ballet’s depths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
A long-running survey of consumer confidence fell in November to a seven-month low and plumbed depths last reached during the covid crisis in 2020.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 25, 2025
Bunce joked that at least Joshua's fight with Paul still retains at least a semblance of credibility given boxers have plumbed to even further depths at times.
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2025
Design specifications required that every building be surrounded by an underwater main and be plumbed with interior standpipes.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
However, when Duhamel first purchased the property, he admitted that it was in a very rustic state, telling Country Living in April 2025 that the cabin didn’t have plumbing for many years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
The kitchen sinks aren’t working, and the plumbing is simultaneously screeching and groaning.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
ENSENADA, Mexico — In a parched hillside village southeast of Ensenada, where electricity and plumbing are scarce and roaming dogs are plentiful, a treasure can be found on the grounds of an elementary school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
Wages for some jobs would increase, at least temporarily, especially for physical roles like welding, nursing and plumbing, some suggested.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Later will come wall frames, plumbing and electrical, windows, walls, and a door, and at the end, I’ll lay down a beautiful wooden floor.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
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.
