plummet

[pluhm-it]

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noun

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)

to plunge.

Origin of plummet

1350–1400; (noun) Middle English plommet < Middle French, diminutive of plomb lead; (v.) derivative of the noun See plumb, -et

Related formsun·plum·met·ed, adjective

Synonyms for plummet

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3. fall, dive, drop, swoop.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for plummeting

plunge, crash, collapse, tumble, dive, drop, decline, decrease, sink, fall, dip, skid, descend, nose-dive, stoop, precipitate, swoop, dump, downturn

Examples from the Web for plummeting

Contemporary Examples of plummeting

Ratings for talent competitions like Idol, once viewership juggernauts, are plummeting.
Nigel Lythgoe on How to Save Reality TV, ‘On the Town,’ and ‘Brokeback Ballroom’
Kevin Fallon
October 22, 2014
Oh, and car sales, far from plummeting, have soared to levels not seen since 2007.
The Chicken Littles Are Wrong: Environmental Regulations Always Spur Innovation
Daniel Gross
June 9, 2014
And then they deploy, plummeting to earth to kill a bunch of people who may or may not deserve it.
Hollywood’s War on Drones
Andrew Romano
May 23, 2014
As a result, the deficit has been plummeting rapidly—in real terms, and as a percentage of gross domestic product.
The Deficit Excuse Is Fading Fast
Daniel Gross
January 10, 2014
A woman who lives on the 29th floor also would report seeing a plummeting body.
Dmitriy Kanarikov Kills Himself, Son in Fall From New York City Tower
Michael Daly
December 23, 2013

Historical Examples of plummeting

Keeping his eyes glued on the plummeting altimeter, he got his left foot up and kicked out the side window.
Beyond The Thunder
H. B. Hickey
Stan opened up and saw an aileron flutter away from the plummeting fighter.
A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F.
Rutherford G. Montgomery
The gunners on board the battleship were taking notice and frantically trying to swing guns to bear upon the plummeting Hawk.
A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F.
Rutherford G. Montgomery
Stan sucked in a deep breath and looked down at the plummeting Heinkel.
A Yankee Flier with the R.A.F.
Rutherford G. Montgomery
She felt like a bird in flight suddenly struck by an arrow and plummeting to earth.
The Saracen: The Holy War
Robert Shea

British Dictionary definitions for plummeting

plummet

verb -mets, -meting or -meted

(intr) to drop down; plunge

noun

another word for plumb bob
a lead plumb used by anglers to determine the depth of water

Word Origin for plummet

C14: from Old French plommet ball of lead, from plomb lead, from Latin plumbum

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

Word Origin and History for plummeting

plummet

late 14c., "ball of lead, plumb of a bob-line," from Old French plomet "graphite, lead; plummet, sounding lead," diminutive of plom "sounding lead" (see plumb (n.)).

plummet

1620s, "to fathom, take soundings," from plummet (n.). Meaning "to fall rapidly" first recorded 1933, perhaps originally among aviators. Related: Plummeted; plummeting.