| Definitions | plummet
noun
- (archaic): A piece of lead attached to a line, used in sounding the depth of water.
- I'll sink him deeper than e'er sounded. -Shak.
- (archaic): A plumb bob or a plumb line. See under plumb, n.
- (archaic): Hence, any weight.
- (archaic): A piece of lead formerly used by school children to rule paper for writing
- hence a plummet line, a line with a plummet; a sounding line.
Translations: - Dutch: schietlood
(trans-mid)
(trans-bottom)
verb
- To drop swiftly, in a direct manner; to fall quickly.
- After its ascent, the arrow plummeted to earth.
Translations: - Dutch: omlaagschieten, tuimelen
- Italian: precipitare
Etymology: From plommet, recorded since 1382, "ball of lead, plumb of a bob-line," from plommet or plomet, the diminutive of plom, plum, 'lead, sounding lead', itself from French plomb, from plumbum. The verb is first recorded in 1626, originally meaning "to fathom, take soundings," from the noun.
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