Emily Dickinson Lexicon

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.