plummet
Americannoun
-
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.
-
something that weighs down or depresses.
verb (used without object)
verb
noun
-
another word for plumb bob
-
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.
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
When there was a pandemic, did you go crazy trying to pick individual stocks that you thought would soar — like Peloton — only to see them plummet just as fast?
From MarketWatch • Mar. 19, 2026
Shares have declined by 57% from their 52-week closing high in October, when the price of Bitcoin began to plummet.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
Many were "thrown into bags without care", causing damage that would make the value plummet, he said.
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026
He watched it plummet and soar out to cast its shadow over the roadway below, and over the roof of a carriage.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
