plumb

¹ American  

[pluhm] / plʌm /

noun

1. 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.

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adjective

1. true according to a plumb line perpendicular.

   Synonyms:

   square, straight, vertical

2. Informal. downright or absolute.

adverb

1. in a perpendicular or vertical direction.

2. exactly, precisely, or directly.

3. Informal. completely or absolutely.

   She was plumb mad. You're plumb right.

verb (used with object)

1. to test or adjust by a plumb line.

2. to make vertical.

3. Shipbuilding. horn.

4. to sound with or as with a plumb line.

5. to measure (depth) by sounding.

6. to examine closely in order to discover or understand.

   to plumb someone's thoughts.

7. to seal with lead.

8. to weight with lead.

9. to provide (a house, building, apartment, etc.) with plumbing.

verb (used without object)

1. to work as a plumber.

idioms

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

Plumb ² American  

[pluhm] / plʌm /

noun

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

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plumb British  

/ plʌm /

noun

1. a weight, usually of lead, suspended at the end of a line and used to determine water depth or verticality

2. the perpendicular position of a freely suspended plumb line (esp in the phrases out of plumb, off plumb )

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adjective

1. informal (prenominal) (intensifier)

   a plumb nuisance

adverb

1. in a vertical or perpendicular line

2. informal (intensifier)

   plumb stupid

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

verb

1. to test the alignment of or adjust to the vertical with a plumb line

2. (tr) to undergo or experience (the worst extremes of misery, sadness, etc)

   to plumb the depths of despair

3. (tr) to understand or master (something obscure)

   to plumb a mystery

4. to connect or join (a device such as a tap) to a water pipe or drainage system

Other Word Forms

• plumbable adjective
• plumbless adjective
• plumbness noun
• replumb verb (used with object)
• unplumb adjective

Etymology

Origin of plumb

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

Example Sentences

Saxon claimed those changes included removing electricity and plumbing from the home, as well as removing a staircase and replacing it with a slide.

From BBC

Evy is the skeptic who dismisses the noises as either an online hoax or bad plumbing.

From Los Angeles Times

We are also seeing this in the plumbing of payment systems.

From Barron's

We are also seeing this in the plumbing of payment systems.

From Barron's

Amanda is enraptured with its aspirational luxury: “The house had that hush expensive houses do. Silence meant the house was plumb, solid, its organs working in happy harmony.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• delve
• explore
• fathom
• penetrate
• unravel