Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PLUMP'LY, adv.

Fully; roundly; without reserve; as, to assert a thing plumply; a word in common popular use.

PLUMP'NESS, n.

Fullness of skin; distension to roundness; as, the plumpness of a boy; plumpness of the eye or cheek. – Newton.

PLUM-POR'RIDGE, n.

Porridge with plums. – Addison.

PLUM-PUD'DING, n.

Pudding containing raisins or currants.

PLUMP'Y, a.

Plump; fat; jolly. [Not elegant.] – Shak.

PLUM'-TREE, n. [Sax. plum-treow.]

A tree that produces plums.

PLU'MULE, n. [L. plumula.]

The ascending scaly part of the embryo plant, which becomes the stem. [See Plume.]

PLUM'Y, a. [from plume.]

1. Feathered; covered with feathers. – Milton.
2. Adorned with plumes; as, a plumy crest. – Addison.

PLUN'DER, n.

1. That which is taken from an enemy by force; pillage; prey; spoil.
2. That which is taken by theft, robbery or fraud.

PLUN'DER, v.t. [G. plündern; D. plunderen; Sw. plundra; Dan. plyndrer. Qu. the root of eloign.]

1. To pillage; to spoil; to strip; to take the goods of an enemy by open force. Nebuchadnezzar plundered the temple of the Jews.
2. To take by pillage or open force. The enemy plundered all the goods they found. We say, he plundered the tent, or he plundered the goods of the tent. The first is the proper use of the word.
3. To rob, as a thief; to take from; to strip; as, the thief plundered the house; the robber plundered a man of his money and watch; pirates plunder ships and men.

PLUN'DER-ED, pp.

Pillaged; robbed.

PLUN'DER-ER, n.

1. A hostile pillager; a spoiler.
2. A thief; a robber. – Addison.

PLUN'DER-ING, ppr.

Pillaging; robbing.

PLUNGE, n.

1. The act of thrusting into water or any penetrable substance.
2. Difficulty; strait; distress; a state of being surrounded or overwhelmed with difficulties. People when put to a plunge, cry out to heaven for help. – L'Estrange. And will thou not reach out a friendly arm, / To raise me from amidst this plunge of sorrow! – Addison. [In this sense, the word is now little used.]

PLUNGE, v.i.

1. To pitch; to thrust or drive one's self into water or a fluid; to dive or to rush in. He plunged into the river. The troops plunged into the stream. His courser plung'd, / And threw him off; the waves whelm'd over him. – Dryden.
2. To fall or rush into distress or any state or circumstances in which the person or thing is enveloped, inclosed or overwhelmed; as, to plunge into a gulf; to plunge into debt or embarrassments; to plunge into war; a body of cavalry plunged into the midst of the enemy.
3. To pitch or throw one's self headlong.

PLUNGE, v.t. [Fr. plonger; Arm. plungea or plugein; W. plwng, a plunge, from the same root as llwnc or llwng, the gullet, a gulp or swallow; probably connected with luncheon.]

1. To thrust into water or other fluid substance, or into any substance that is penetrable; to immerse in a fluid; to drive into flesh, mire or earth, &c.; as, to plunge the body in water; to plunge the arm into fire or flame; to plunge a dagger into the breast. – Milton. Dryden.
2. To thrust or drive into any state in which the thing is considered as enveloped or surrounded; as, to plunge one's self into difficulties or distress; to plunge a nation into war.
3. To baptize by immersion.

PLUNG'ED, pp.

Thrust into a fluid or other penetrable substance; immersed; involved in straits.

PLUN'GEON, n.

A sea fowl. – Ainsworth.

PLUNG'ER, n.

1. One that plunges; a diver.
2. A cylinder used as a forcer in pumps.

PLUNG'ING, ppr.

Immersing; diving; rushing headlong.

PLUNG'Y, a.

Wet. [Not used.] – Chaucer.

PLUNK'ET, n.

A kind of blue color. – Ainsworth.

PLU'RAL, a. [L. pluralis, from plus, pluris, more.]

1. Containing more than one; consisting of two or more, or designating two or more; as, a plural word.
2. In grammar, the plural number is that which designates more than one, that is, any number except one. Thus in most languages, a word in the plural number expresses two or more. But the Greek has a dual number to express two; and the plural expresses more than two.

PLU'RAL-IST, n.

A clerk or clergyman who holds more ecclesiastical benefices than one, with cure of souls. – Johnson.

PLU-RAL'I-TY, n. [Fr. pluralité, from L. pluralis.]

1. A number consisting of two or more of the same kind; as, a plurality of gods; a plurality of worlds. – Encyc.
2. A state of being or having a greater number.
3. In elections, a plurality of votes is when one candidate has more votes than any other, but less than half of the whole number of votes given. It is thus distinguished from a majority, which is more than half of the whole number.
4. Plurality of benefices, is where the same clerk is possessed of more benefices than one, with cure of souls. In this case, each benefice thus held is called a plurality.