Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

plumb1

Pronunciation: /plʌm/

Translate plumb | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of plumb

verb

[with object]
  • 1measure (the depth of a body of water): I plumbed the depth and found the bottom of the shelf to be seven metres down
  • [no object, with adverbial] (of water) be of a specified depth:at its deepest the lake scarcely plumbed seven feet
  • explore or experience fully or to extremes:she had plumbed the depths of depravity
  • 2test (an upright surface) to determine the vertical: they are valuable aids in plumbing the frames and keeping the side of the ship fair

noun

  • a ball of lead or other heavy object attached to the end of a line for finding the depth of water or determining the vertical on an upright surface.

adverb

  • 1 informal exactly:trading opportunities plumb in the centre of central Europe
  • [as submodifier] North American extremely or completely:they must both be plumb crazy
  • 2 archaic vertically:drapery fell from their human forms plumb down

adjective

  • vertical:ensure that the skirting is straight and plumb
  • Cricket (of the wicket) level; true.

Phrases

out of plumb

not exactly vertical:the towers are inclined, from four to ten feet out of plumb

Origin:

Middle English (originally in the sense 'sounding lead'): via Old French from Latin plumbum 'lead'

plumb in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of plumb in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

leporine

/ ˈlɛpərʌɪn /
adjective
of or resembling a hare or hares …