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• plum
  plum

  noun

  the drupaceous fruit of any of several trees belonging to the genus Prunus, of the rose family, having an oblong stone.
• Plum
  Plum

  noun

  a city in SW Pennsylvania.

plum

¹ American  

[pluhm] / plʌm /

noun

• plums
  plural

1. the drupaceous fruit of any of several trees belonging to the genus Prunus, of the rose family, having an oblong stone.

2. the tree itself.

3. any of various other trees bearing a plumlike fruit.

4. the fruit itself.

5. a sugarplum.

6. a raisin, as in a cake or pudding.

7. a deep purple varying from bluish to reddish.

8. Informal. an excellent or desirable thing, as a fine position.

   The choicest plums went to his old cronies.

9. Informal. an unanticipated large increase in money or property, as an unexpected legacy; a windfall.

   The company offered bonuses and other plums.

10. Also called displacer.  a large stone used in massive concrete construction.

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adjective

plummer, plummest

1. extremely desirable, rewarding, profitable, or the like.

   a plum job in the foreign service.

Plum ² American  

[pluhm] / plʌm /

noun

1. a city in SW Pennsylvania.

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plum ¹ British  

/ plʌm /

noun

1. a small rosaceous tree, Prunus domestica, with white flowers and an edible oval fruit that is purple, yellow, or green and contains an oval stone See also greengage damson

2. the fruit of this tree

3. a raisin, as used in a cake or pudding

4. 1. a dark reddish-purple colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      a plum carpet

5. informal

   1. something of a superior or desirable kind, such as a financial bonus

   2. ( as modifier )

      a plum job

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plum ² British  

/ plʌm /

adjective

1. a variant spelling of plumb plumb plumb plumb

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• plumlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• plums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of plum

before 900; Middle English; Old English plūme (cognate with German Pflaume ) ≪ Greek proûmnon plum, proúmnē plum tree; cf. prune ¹

Explanation

A plum is a flowering fruit tree, and it's also the name of the fruit that grows on it. Plums are small, dark reddish purple, and sweet. Plums have an edible, smooth skin, juicy flesh, and a hard pit in the middle. When plums are dried, they're called prunes. The typical color of a ripe plum — a rich, purple-red shade — is also called plum. And informally, you can say that something great or desirable is plum: "I was just offered a plum role in the school play!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plum Plum plums plummer plummest

I chose two: one ridged and heavy, its skin receding from burgundy into a deep, almost plum color; the other a cheerful red beefsteak.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

Reynolds was reshuffled to chief whip and Jones ended up with the plum role of Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

We had a grapefruit tree and a plum tree, and a dirt yard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

Mejia has secured a plum role in the high-stakes legal battle over homelessness, at a moment of intense scrutiny over city homelessness programs.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

“I hardly think a plum would survive the fall,” she repeated, laughing harder.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Suzanne Badger who works as the front of house manager at the Pickled Plum pub in Pershore, said people were "walking in off the street, melting".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Kelsey Plum, who was recently traded from the Sparks to the Mercury, did not play during the first matchup against her former team because of a lower left leg injury.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Monique Akoa Makani, making her Sparks debut after being acquired in the Kelsey Plum trade Sunday, entered the game in the first and made her first shot attempt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Yueru was sent to Seattle in the Plum trade and is now playing with Dallas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

His habits were much like Tar Baby’s but there were no bottles, and Plum was sometimes cheerful and animated.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison

Thanks to a Philippines-Mexico connection, coconut shows up in sweet and savory recipes: ceviche with poached shrimp, coconut limonada and coconut raspado with jammy plums.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

Adding foods like blueberries, plums, blackberries, broad beans, and cherries to your daily diet, especially when paired with green tea, could be a simple way to support heart health, according to new research.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026

Berries, peaches, cherries, plums — anything that can be washed at home and eaten out of hand.

From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026

It has continued to flummox consumers in countries such as Spain and Italy, where "mermelada" and "marmellata" respectively are commonly used for spreads made from other kinds of fruit, such as plums and figs.

From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026

She had nothing at all until Great Ellen came in sometime in early afternoon with her apron full of plums.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

The eccentric for feathering the floats is fixed to the ship’s side, and sometimes carries a plummer block or pillow block for the paddle shaft bearing.

From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Joshua Rose

About 6 ft. of shafting is coupled on in line with the motor shaft, and an extra plummer block fixed at the end.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 711, August 17, 1889 by Various

The plummer block for receiving the thrust of the shaft is shown in fig.

From A Catechism of the Steam Engine by John Bourne, C.E.

The plummer was hear twice yisterday and the cutworms is awfle.

From The Romance of an Old Fool by Roswell Martin Field

Q.--What kind of plummer blocks are used for the paddle shaft bearings?

From A Catechism of the Steam Engine by John Bourne, C.E.

For women and not a few drag queens, Blanche is considered one of the plummest roles in all of show business, though its psychological complexities can prove debilitating.

From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2023

Now, Christie is the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention, the plummest of plum speaking gigs and a testament to how quickly he has risen in the GOP firmament.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2012

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