plummet
Americannoun
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Also called plumb bob. a piece of lead or some other weight attached to a line, used for determining perpendicularity, for sounding, etc.; the bob of a plumb line.
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something that weighs down or depresses.
verb (used without object)
verb
noun
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another word for plumb bob
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a lead plumb used by anglers to determine the depth of water
Other Word Forms
- unplummeted adjective
Etymology
Origin of plummet
1350–1400; (noun) Middle English plommet < Middle French, diminutive of plomb lead; (v.) derivative of the noun See plumb, -et
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.
The risk to the strategy—and it is hard to overstate it—is that stocks will plummet should reports of peace prove false.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
Because it doesn’t spin like a slider, batters often read it as a fastball out of the pitcher’s hand—only for the ball to plummet into the dirt at the last possible moment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Had the better of Mercedes team-mate George Russell in qualifying but another poor start saw him plummet down the order to sixth.
From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026
Even if your income were to plummet by 50%, you would still receive $250,000 to $400,000 per year in passive income — an amount that exceeds what most retirees comfortably live on.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 19, 2026
Hector sighed, and I watched his estimation of me plummet.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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.
