plumber

[ pluhm-er ]

/ ˈplʌm ər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR plumber ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who installs and repairs piping, fixtures, appliances, and appurtenances in connection with the water supply, drainage systems, etc., both in and out of buildings.

Slang. an undercover operative or spy hired to detect or stop leaks of news or secret information, often using questionable or illegal methods, as illegal entry or wiretapping.

Obsolete. a worker in lead or similar metals.

Words nearby plumber

plumb rule, plumbaginaceous, plumbaginous, plumbago, plumbeous, plumber, plumber's helper, plumber's snake, plumbery, plumbic, plumbicon

Origin of plumber

1375–1425; 1965–70 for def 2; late Middle English, spelling variant of Middle English plowber ≪ Late Latin plumbārius leadworker; replacing Middle English plummer < Anglo-French; Old French plummier < Latin, as above. See plumb, -er²

Definition for plumber (2 of 2)

plumb

[ pluhm ]

/ plʌm /

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.

Origin of plumb

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

SYNONYMS FOR plumb

2 vertical, straight, square.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR plumb ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM plumb

plumb·a·ble, adjectiveplumb·less, adjectiveplumb·ness, nounre·plumb, verb (used with object)

un·plumb, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH plumb

plum plumb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for plumber

The NRA and Joe the Plumber view dead Americans as an acceptable loss so that they can have easy access to guns.
It’s Time to Think Big or Shut Up on Gun Control|Dean Obeidallah|June 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then there was the statement I saw this week from “Joe the Plumber.”
Joe the Plumber’s ‘Dead Kid’ Callousness|Erica Lafferty|May 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Anyone who has ever tried to get a plumber in Paris at that time of the year will know what I mean.
Simon de Pury: Visiting 16 Studios of Los Angeles’s Top Artists|Simon de Pury|August 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
When a leak springs in her bathroom and she has to pay a kingly sum to the plumber, she Googles “how to get cash quick.”
The First Great Internet Novel|Lauren Elkin|July 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The son of a Scottish plumber and raised in North London, Rod Stewart was obsessed with two things: football and R&B.
11 Best Bits From Rod Stewart’s New Autobiography|The Daily Beast|October 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Suppose a plumber is called into your house on a raw day of January to tinker up a disordered pipe in the cellar.
Christianity and Problems of To-day: Lectures Delivered Before Lake Forest College on the Foundation of the Late William Bross|John Huston Finley
The great American plumber joke, that many-branched evergreen, was planted at this time.
The Magnificent Ambersons|Booth Tarkington
His order was obeyed, but in the morning the plumber failed to appear.
Out of the Hurly-Burly|Charles Heber Clark
When I tell about her, I can see her, and her two little girls, and her plumber husband.
The Road|Jack London
It was this the plumber heard, and his wife, and the baker and others.
The Spell of Belgium|Isabel Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for plumber (1 of 2)

plumber

/ (ˈplʌmə) /

noun

a person who installs and repairs pipes, fixtures, etc, for water, drainage, and gas

Word Origin for plumber

C14: from Old French plommier worker in lead, from Late Latin plumbārius, from Latin plumbum lead

British Dictionary definitions for plumber (2 of 2)

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

plumber

noun

Words related to plumber

Words nearby plumber

Origin of plumber

Definition for plumber (2 of 2)

noun

adjective Also plum.

adverb Also plum.

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

Origin of plumb

SYNONYMS FOR plumb

OTHER WORDS FROM plumb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH plumb

Examples from the Web for plumber

British Dictionary definitions for plumber (1 of 2)

noun

Word Origin for plumber

British Dictionary definitions for plumber (2 of 2)

noun

adjective Also: plum

adverb Also: plum

verb

Derived forms of plumb

Word Origin for plumb