Emily Dickinson Lexicon

plot (plotted), v. [see plot, n.]

Plan; scheme; conspire; bargain; negotiate; secretly arrange; stealthily transact a deal.

plotting, verbal adj. [see plot, n.]

Designing; scheming; conspiring; stealthy; calculating; crafty; shrewd; cunning.

plover, n. [ME < OFr < L. pluvia, rain.] (webplay: bird).

Poss. Charadrius oedicnemus, the North American thick-knee or Norfolk plover; ravine-dwelling fowl; grallatorial bird of the family Charadriidæ; migratory bird which arrives in North America in the spring and summer months.

pluck (-ed, -ing, -s), v. [Late OE ploccian, to pluck feathers.] (webplay: fatherless, hand, lights, nation, pluck away, pluck out, pluck up).

1. Pick; harvest; gather; seize; take; carry off; remove; pull off (a tree) or out of the ground; separate from the source of physical life; [fig.] remove from mortal existence; take to another sphere.
2. Pull; grasp; clutch; grab.
3. Phrase. “Pluck away”: seize; take away; carry off; [fig.] remove from mortal existence; take to another sphere.
4. Phrase. “Pluck up”: gather; pull out; remove from the ground.

plucking, n. [see pluck, v.] (webplay: eyes, fruit).

1. Harvesting; picking; removal; seizure; process of being separated from the source of physical life.
2. Ability to obtain; capacity to grasp and hold; [fig.] perception.
3. Act of gathering flowers; [fig.] mortal existence; ability to use the physical body.

plug, v. [MDu. plugge, a plug, bung, stopper.] (webplay: block).

Block; clog; cork; close off; fill up; stop up; obstruct; contain the contents of; prevent what is inside from leaking out.

plumb, n. [Fr. plomb < L. plumb-um, lead.] (webplay: lead, line).

Reach; range; limit; extent.

plumb (-ed, -ing), v. [see plumb, n.] (webplay: ascertain, depth, sound, suddenly).

1. Measure; determine the depth; calculate the distance to the bottom by dropping down a long piece of lead attached to a line.
2. Find; locate; reach.

plume (-s), n. [OFr < L. plūma, small soft feather, down.]

1. Ostrich feather; ornament of long, beautiful feathers; sign of wealth; symbol of rank; mark of royal station.
2. Bunch of ostrich feathers carried in a funeral procession; [fig.] mourning clothes; sign of grief; symbol of heartache; token of suffering.

plumed, verbal adj. [see plume, n.] (webplay: win).

1. Adorned with ostrich feathers; [fig.] royal; regal; imperial; majestic; grand; dignified; divine; angelic; heavenly.
2. Winged; pinioned; capable of flight.