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Definition of plumber - 6 dictionary results

plumb⋅er

[pluhm-er]
–noun
1. a person who installs and repairs piping, fixtures, appliances, and appurtenances in connection with the water supply, drainage systems, etc., both in and out of buildings.
2. Slang. an undercover operative or spy hired to detect or stop leaks of news or secret information, often using questionable or illegal methods, as illegal entry or wiretapping.
3. Obsolete. a worker in lead or similar metals.

Origin:
1375–1425; 1965–70 for def. 2; late ME, sp. var. of ME plowber ≪ LL plumbārius leadworker; r. ME plummer < AF; OF plummier < L, as above. See plumb, -er 2

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.
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


plumb⋅a⋅ble, adjective
plumbless, adjective
plumbness, noun


2. vertical, straight, square.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To plumber
plumb·er   (plŭm'ər)   
n.  
  1. One that installs and repairs pipes and plumbing.

  2. Slang An employee assigned to investigate and stop leaks of sensitive information.


[Middle English plummer, from Old French plomier, from Latin plumbārius, lead worker, from Latin plumbum, lead.]
Word History: A plumber works with water pipes, once made from lead, with lead solder for the joints. The Romans used lead pipes, and the word plumber comes from the Latin word for lead, plumbum. There is no Latin, or even Indo-European, etymology for plumbum but it bears a distant similarity to the Greek word for lead, the standard form of which, molubdos, gives us the name of another element in the Periodic Table, molybdenum. Two non-standard forms, molibos and especially bolimos, are even more similar to the Latin.
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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Word Origin & History

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.

plumber 
c.1100, "a worker in any sort of lead," from O.Fr. plummier (Fr. plombier), from L. plumbarius "worker in lead," properly an adj., "pertaining to lead," from plumbum "lead" (see plumb). Meaning shifted 19c. to "workman who installs pipes and fittings" as lead water pipes became the principal concern of the trade. In U.S. Nixon administration (1969-74), the name of a special unit for investigation of "leaks" of government secrets. Plumbing "water pipes" is first recorded 1884.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

Plumber programming, tool
A system for obtaining information about memory leaks in Ada and C programs.
(http://home.earthlink.net/~owenomalley/plumber.html).
(17 Feb 1999)

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