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plum

 - 11 dictionary results

plum

1  [pluhm] noun, adjective, plum⋅mer, plum⋅mest.
Use plum in a Sentence
–noun
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.
–adjective
11. extremely desirable, rewarding, profitable, or the like: a plum job in the foreign service.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE plūme (c. G Pflaume) ≪ Gk proûmnon plum, proúmnē plum tree; cf. prune 1

Related forms:
plumlike, adjective

plum

2  [pluhm]
–adjective, adverb
plumb (defs. 2–6).

Plum

  [pluhm]
–noun
a city in SW Pennsylvania. 25,390.

plumb

  [pluhm]
–noun
1. a small mass of lead or other heavy material, as that suspended by a line and used to measure the depth of water or to ascertain a vertical line. Compare plumb line.
–adjective
2. true according to a plumb line; perpendicular.
3. Informal. downright or absolute.
–adverb
4. in a perpendicular or vertical direction.
5. exactly, precisely, or directly.
6. Informal. completely or absolutely: She was plumb mad. You're plumb right.
–verb (used with object)
7. to test or adjust by a plumb line.
8. to make vertical.
9. Shipbuilding. horn (def. 31).
10. to sound with or as with a plumb line.
11. to measure (depth) by sounding.
12. to examine closely in order to discover or understand: to plumb someone's thoughts.
13. to seal with lead.
14. to weight with lead.
15. to provide (a house, building, apartment, etc.) with plumbing.
–verb (used without object)
16. to work as a plumber.
—Idiom
17. out of or off plumb, not corresponding to the perpendicular; out of true.
Also, plum (for defs. 2–6).

Origin:
1250–1300; ME plumbe, prob. < AF *plombe < VL *plumba, for L plumbum lead

Related forms:
plumb⋅a⋅ble, adjective
plumbless, adjective
plumbness, noun

Synonyms:
2. vertical, straight, square.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To plum
plum 1   (plŭm)   
n.  

    1. Any of several shrubs or small trees of the genus Prunus, bearing smooth-skinned, fleshy, edible fruit with a single hard-shelled stone that encloses the seed.

    2. The fruit of any of these trees.

    3. Any of several trees bearing plumlike fruit.

    4. The fruit of such a tree.

    1. Any of several trees bearing plumlike fruit.

    2. The fruit of such a tree.

  3. A raisin, when added to a pudding or cake.

  4. A sugarplum.

  5. A dark purple to deep reddish purple.

  6. An especially desirable position, assignment, or reward: an ambassadorship granted as a political plum.


[Middle English, from Old English plūme, from Vulgar Latin *prūna, from neuter pl. of Latin prūnum.]
plum 2   (plŭm)   
adv.  Variant of plumb.
adj.  Variant of plumb.
plumb   (plŭm)   
n.  

  1. A weight on the end of a line, used to determine water depth.

  2. A weight on the end of a line, used especially by masons and carpenters to establish a true vertical.

adv.  

  1. In a vertical or perpendicular line.

  2. Informal Directly; squarely: fell plumb in the middle of the puddle.

  3. also plum Informal Utterly; completely: plumb worn out. See Note at right.

adj.  

  1. Exactly vertical. See Synonyms at vertical.

  2. also plum Informal Utter; absolute; sheer: a plumb fool.

v.   plumbed, plumb·ing, plumbs

v.   tr.

  1. To determine the depth of with a plumb; sound.

  2. To test the verticality or alignment of with a plumb.

  3. To straighten or make perpendicular: plumb up the wall.

  4. To examine closely or deeply; probe: "Shallow ideas are plumbed and discarded" (Gilbert Highet).

  5. To seal with lead.

v.   intr.
To work as a plumber.

[Middle English, lead, a plumb, from Old French plomb, from Latin plumbum, lead.]
plumb'a·ble adj., plumb'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
plum

  1. n.
    a prize or reward; something that can be considered the spoils of a political office. : My plum for getting elected was a big new office.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

plum 
O.E. plume, early Gmc. borrowing (cf. M.Du. prume, O.H.G. phruma, Ger. Pflaume) from V.L. *pruna, from L. prunum "plum," from Gk. prounon, later form of proumnon, from an Asiatic language. Change of pr- to pl- is unique to Gmc. Meaning "something desirable" is first recorded 1780, probably in ref. to the sugar-rich bits of a plum pudding, etc.

plumb  (n.)
c.1300, "lead hung on a string to show the vertical line," from O.Fr. *plombe, plomme "sounding lead," from L.L. *plumba, originally pl. of L. plumbum "lead," the metal, of unknown origin, related to Gk. molybdos "lead" (dial. bolimos), probably from an extinct Mediterranean language, perhaps Iberian. The verb is first recorded c.1380, with sense "to immerse;" meaning "take soundings with a plumb" is first recorded 1568; fig. sense of "to get to the bottom of" is from 1599. Plumb-bob is from 1835. Adj. sense of "perpendicular, vertical" is from c.1460; the notion of "exact measurement" led to extended sense of "completely, downright" (1748), sometimes spelled plump or plunk.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

PLUM
A compiler for a substantial subset of PL/I for the Univac 1100, from the University of Maryland.
["PL/I Programming with PLUM", M.V. Zelkowitz, Paladin House, 1978].
(1995-02-23)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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