PLUMB


Meaning of PLUMB in English

I. plumb 1 /plʌm/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]

[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: plumb 'metal weight on a plumb line' (13-21 centuries) , from Old French plomb 'lead' , from Latin plumbum ]

1 . plumb the depths (of despair/misery/bad taste etc) to feel an unpleasant emotion in a very extreme way, or to behave in a way that is extremely unpleasant or morally bad:

When his wife left him, Matt plumbed the very depths of despair.

That night they plumbed the depths of treachery and horror, and murdered the king as he slept.

2 . to succeed in understanding something completely SYN fathom :

Psychologists try to plumb the deepest mysteries of the human psyche.

plumb something ↔ in phrasal verb

to connect a piece of equipment such as a washing machine to the water supply

II. plumb 2 BrE AmE adverb

1 . [always + adverb/preposition] informal exactly:

The bullet hit him plumb between the eyes.

2 . American English informal completely – often used humorously:

The whole idea sounds plumb crazy to me.

III. plumb 3 BrE AmE adjective technical

1 . exactly upright or level

2 . out of plumb not exactly upright or level

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.