plumb
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.
plumb
1 American
[pluhm]
/ plʌm /
noun
-
plumbs
plural
adjective
adverb
-
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)
-
plumbs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
plumbed,
past participle, past
-
plumbing
present participle
-
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.
verb (used without object)
-
plumbs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
plumbed,
past participle, past
-
plumbing
present participle
idioms
Plumb
2
American
[pluhm]
/ plʌm /
noun
plumb
British
/ 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
adverb
-
in a vertical or perpendicular line
-
informal (intensifier)
plumb stupid
-
informal exactly; precisely (also in the phrase plumb on )
verb
-
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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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plumbnessnoun
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replumbverb (used with object)
-
plumbableadjective
-
plumblessadjective
-
unplumbadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
plumbsimple
-
plumbssimple
-
have plumbedperfect
-
has plumbedperfect
-
am plumbingprogressive
-
are plumbingprogressive
-
is plumbingprogressive
-
have been plumbingperfect progressive
-
has been plumbingperfect progressive
Past
-
plumbedsimple
-
had plumbedperfect
-
was plumbingprogressive
-
were plumbingprogressive
-
had been plumbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plumb
1250–1300; Middle English plumbe, probably < Anglo-French *plombe < Vulgar Latin *plumba, for Latin plumbum lead
Explanation
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.
Vocabulary lists containing plumb
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Christopher Columbus' Diary: The First Voyage
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"The Odyssey," Vocabulary from Part 1 of the epic poem
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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:
Over nine months last year, the groups of artists met monthly on Zoom — “six countries and seven time zones,” says Rozental — along with therapists, scholars and others to plumb the topic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 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
As is often the case when Hamilton struggles, not only does his mood plumb the depths, but the F1 rumour mill spins into overdrive.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025
At the mention of palm nuts she whined, “But, you all, on a diet of just fruit we could plumb die or even get diarrhea.”
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Plumb launched a recruiting campaign with billboards around Boston and a pledge to match the in-state tuition of any state flagship university.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
About two years ago, St. Michael’s hired Richard Plumb as president.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Meanwhile, Jack Plumb, 38, also from Suffolk, said the group and the yoga has helped battle his loneliness.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026
Delivering the appeal judges' ruling, Lord Justice Edis said Plumb was "obsessed" with Ms Willoughby.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2025
All this he knew, and yet Dr. Plumb insists that he was and is infinitely wise, infinitely powerful and infinitely good.
From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 7 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Discussions by Robert Green Ingersoll
Russo is a good guy, yes, and one for whom we root, but in his effort to protect his daughter, he plumbs seemingly bottomless depths of humiliation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026
Based on the 2023 Warren Zanes book of the same name, the film plumbs Springsteen’s life and career through the creative process, during the making of his 1982 acoustic album “Nebraska.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 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
George loved plumbs above all other fruit, and he walked very slowly from the parlour with his eyes fixed on the basket.
From The Bad Family & Other Stories by E. (Eliza) Fenwick
There are, in fact, very few places where the 21st century intrudes, save for a flat screen TV or two and the kitchen’s plumbed, built-in Miele coffee system.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Even though the S&P 500’s dividend yield is on the cusp of breaking below the record low 1% it plumbed at the peak of the dot-com bubble, several stocks are at the other extreme.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 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
Welsh rugby plumbed new depths at their own ground, eclipsing the 68-14 Six Nations defeat by England in March.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 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
Conditions aboard the ship have included poor sanitation, infrequent ports-of-call, broken plumbing and shortages of fresh food, according to reports last week in the Military Times and Stars & Stripes.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Lawmakers have expressed concern in recent days about reports detailing a lack of fresh food and personal supplies aboard the carrier, as well as plumbing backups and mental-health problems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
The conditions have reportedly included poor sanitation, infrequent ports-of-call, broken plumbing, exhaustion and shortages of fresh food.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Blumenthal voiced concern for such extended deployments, noting "widespread reports of shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns" and other problems aboard the Lincoln.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
We listened to his stories of life in the city, enthralled by his tales of the modern conveniences like indoor plumbing and streetcars, things we could scarcely imagine.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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.
