I. plump 1 /plʌmp/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Middle Dutch ; Origin: plomp 'dull, not sharp' ]
1 . slightly fat in a fairly pleasant way – used especially about women or children, often to avoid saying the word ‘fat’:
The nurse was a cheerful plump woman.
The baby’s nice and plump.
2 . round and full in a way that looks attractive:
plump soft pillows
plump juicy tomatoes
—plumpness noun [uncountable]
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ fat having too much flesh on your body. It is rude to tell someone that they are fat. It is also better not to use any of these words when talking directly to someone about their body:
She thinks she’s fat.
|
He looks the same, just a little fatter.
▪ overweight weighing more than you should:
Many medical conditions are caused by being overweight.
|
She was several kilos overweight.
▪ big/large used when saying that someone has a big body. Large is more common than big in written English:
My father was a big man.
|
two large ladies
▪ obese extremely fat in a way that is dangerous to your health:
He went to a summer camp for obese teenagers.
▪ chubby slightly fat in a nice-looking way – used especially about babies and children:
A chubby little baby was playing on the rug.
▪ plump a woman or child who is plump is slightly fat, especially in a pleasant way:
Her mother was a plump cheerful woman.
▪ flabby having soft loose skin that looks unattractive:
a flabby stomach
|
Her body was getting old and flabby.
▪ portly literary fat and round – used especially about fairly old men:
The bishop was a portly middle-aged gentleman.
II. plump 2 BrE AmE verb
[ Sense 1,4: Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ plump 1 ]
[ Sense 2-3,5: Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Copying the action ]
1 . ( also plump up ) [transitive] to gently hit ↑ cushion s or ↑ pillow s in order to make them rounder and softer
2 . plump (yourself) down to sit down suddenly and heavily SYN plonk
3 . [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to put something down suddenly and carelessly SYN plonk :
Plump the bags down anywhere you like.
4 . ( also plump up ) [intransitive and transitive] if dried fruit plumps up, or if you plump it up, it becomes fatter and softer when in liquid:
Soak the apricots and raisins until the fruit plumps up.
plump for something/somebody phrasal verb British English informal
to choose something or someone after thinking carefully about it:
Finally we plumped for a bottle of champagne.